The British government said it had sanctioned commanders from both sides of Sudan's ongoing conflict whom it suspects of sexual violence during the siege of El Fasher in North Darfur. The Foreign Office said it hoped the action would ensure 'the horrors that took place at El Fasher will be known to the world.'
During the RSF's takeover of the city, up to 10,000 men, women and children are believed to have been killed over two days in what has been described as the fastest and largest massacre of civilians this century. Another 40,000 remain unaccounted for. The killings followed an 18-month starvation siege by the RSF, which has been allegedly backed by the United Arab Emirates, a claim the UAE continues to deny.
Fewer than 70,000 people are now believed to remain in El Fasher, compared with a prewar population of more than one million. Life inside the city remains horrendous, with testimony indicating routine detention, torture and unlawful killings. A Guardian investigation earlier this year reported that internal US and UK warnings had been sidelined in the run-up to the RSF attack, and that action that might have saved lives was not taken.
The sanctioned individuals include Hussein Abu Jalak, an RSF colonel linked to atrocities during the siege, and Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, also known as 'Al-Qubba', who was identified as playing a prominent role in the attack on the city.
A statement from the Coalition on Atrocity Prevention and Justice for Sudan said: 'The victims will not be forgotten, survivors will be heard, and we will continue to pursue accountability for those responsible.'
In the 12 months since the fall of El Fasher, Sudan's ruinous conflict, which has forced 14 million people to flee their homes, has increasingly become a drone war. The latest strikes saw the RSF cause mass power outages across east Sudan after targeting power stations with a coordinated drone attack.