U.S. Envoy Urges Comprehensive Sudan Arms Ban Amid Rising Drone Strikes

A Darfur-specific arms embargo, enforced for over twenty years, is set to lapse next month unless it is extended or revised.

Analysts contend that the embargo has had limited impact on curbing arms shipments to Darfur, a region that has endured some of the fiercest fighting since hostilities began in April 2023.

Ethnic violence reminiscent of two decades ago has flared again in Darfur, with UN experts asserting that alleged atrocities by RSF forces during their October seizure of el‑Fasher bear the hallmarks of genocide.

During the council session, UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher warned that recent fighting has been ‘characterized by the extensive use of drones.’

Rosemary DiCarlo, UN under‑secretary‑general for political and peacebuilding affairs, informed the council that civilians are enduring ‘the relentless fallout of one of the gravest humanitarian crises of our era.’

‘Drones fired by both warring parties have repeatedly hit markets, schools, fuel depots and water facilities,’ she said, noting that the UN recorded 1,100 civilian deaths from drone attacks between January and June of this year.

DiCarlo added that the exact death toll since the outbreak of war remains unclear, but is ‘likely to number in the hundreds of thousands.’

She observed that the persistent deployment of sophisticated weaponry indicates continued external backing for both combatants.

Boulos said the U.S. proposal calls for expanding the pool of experts tasked with monitoring the embargo.

He urged the council to act against ‘external actors’ fueling the war, warning that failure to do so could draw additional regional powers deeper into Sudan’s turmoil.

Sudan’s military chief appeared unmoved by the proposals under UN deliberation.

‘Discussions of possible sanctions against Sudan will neither sway us nor diminish our determination,’ General Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan declared at a police graduation ceremony in Khartoum on Monday.

Experts have examined the pathways through which weapons enter Sudan.

Amnesty International has previously reported finding evidence that weapons manufactured in Serbia, Russia, China, Turkey, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are being used in Sudan.

The UAE is frequently cited as the principal supplier of arms and support to the RSF, which in turn is accused of using the Emirates as a conduit for illicit gold trade; both sides have consistently denied these claims.

Sudan’s armed forces have employed Turkish and Iranian drones and enjoy political backing from Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

The two rival factions, once allies who seized power together in a 2021 coup, later split over an internationally supported initiative to transition to civilian rule.

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