Sudan Faces New Sanctions as Evidence of Atrocities Mounts

Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Africa Brief.

The highlights this week: Sudan faces an expanding sanctions regime amid civil war, countries seek to bolster relations with the Alliance of Sahel States, and the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia is in jeopardy.

The European Union is the latest set of countries to expand a sanctions regime on Sudan as famine and massacres mount amid the country’s four-year civil war.

On Monday, the EU banned the purchase, import, and transfer of gold from Sudan. EU officials said that gold, which accounts for nearly 60 percent of Sudan’s total export value, had become a lifeline in financing the country’s civil war. The bloc also banned exports to Sudan of mercury and cyanide, which are used in gold mining.

The EU decision comes after the United States moved last month to expand its sanctions to target individuals and companies that have helped the two warring factions—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)—procure weapons and recruit mercenaries.