Sudan: U.S. Slaps New Sanctions On Sudan After Chlorine Gas Deployment Claims

What the report says

AllAfrica, carrying a Radio France Internationale report dated 20 July 2026, says the United States has introduced new sanctions against Sudan’s military-led authorities over allegations that chemical weapons were used during the war with the Rapid Support Forces. The measures, which reportedly took effect Monday, include restrictions on Sudan’s access to U.S. financing and exports, as well as a ban on Sudanese state-owned airlines entering U.S. airspace.

According to the report, the U.S. State Department said last month that it had concluded Sudan’s government used chemical weapons in 2024, which Washington said would breach the Chemical Weapons Convention. Sudan ratified that treaty in 1999. The U.S. has not publicly specified the attack locations, timing or substances involved. Sudan’s army-aligned government rejected the claims in a Sunday statement, describing the sanctions as illegal, unilateral and unfounded.

RFI cited earlier reporting by the New York Times, based on anonymous U.S. officials, that alleged chlorine was used with the approval of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. It also referred to France 24 reporting that two chlorine gas barrels were dropped near the al-Jaili oil refinery north of Khartoum in September 2024, when the area was said to be under RSF control. The Sudanese army has previously denied chemical weapons allegations, including after a 2016 Amnesty International investigation in Darfur.

The sanctions come amid Sudan’s continuing civil war, which began in April 2023 after a power struggle between Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti. RFI reports that the U.S. has sanctioned both men, accused RSF commanders of genocide in Darfur, and pursued unsuccessful ceasefire efforts as the conflict fuels a severe humanitarian crisis.