US sanctions Indian firm, CEO for 'fueling' Sudan's civil war

ISLAMABAD: The United States Treasury Department on Friday imposed sanctions on an Indian explosives manufacturer and its chief executive, accusing them of supplying materials that helped sustain Sudan's civil war.

The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklisted India's Raipur-based SBL Energy Limited and its chief executive officer, Alok Choudhari, as part of an operation targeting eight individuals and entities allegedly involved in supporting networks linked to the war in Sudan.

According to the statement, SBL Energy supplied "more than 200 shipments of explosives and explosive-related materiel" to Sudan-based Target Multiactivities Company (TMAC), which it described as a firm that "maintains the Sudanese Armed Forces' (SAF) arsenal."

"The explosives supplied by SBL were subsequently used in bombs deployed by the SAF," the Treasury said.

Sanctions target eight countries 

The sanctions target eight entities across just three countries, India, Egypt and Sudan, that Washington says have fuelled Sudan's civil war.

Announcing the sanctions, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, "The Trump Administration is committed to advancing a lasting peace in Sudan and bringing an end to the conflict."

"The networks profiting from the conflict in Sudan jeopardize the prospects for the humanitarian truce that the Sudanese people desperately need," he added.

The Sudan civil war began in April 2023 when fighting broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which killed tens of thousands and displaced over 14 million people, according to the UN.

Humanitarian crisis 

According to the Treasury, sanctions target networks that provide "weapons, explosives, and foreign fighters" to both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing them of “enabling both sides to expand the scale and intensity of the conflict” and worsening what it described as “the world's worst humanitarian crisis”.

The sanctions freeze any US-based assets belonging to the designated individuals and entities and generally prohibit Americans from conducting transactions with them. 

“Violations of US sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on US and foreign persons”, the statement concluded.