Sudan arms embargo: US seeks nationwide UN expansion

The United States urged the UN Security Council on August 24 to expand a United Nations arms embargo on Sudan's Darfur region to cover the whole country, saying outside support risks widening Sudan's war.

US envoy Massad Boulos said Washington had put forward a resolution that would expand the embargo across all of Sudan, bring drones under the arms restriction regime and increase the number of experts scrutinising the existing embargo.

The Darfur arms embargo has been in place for more than two decades and is due to expire on September 12, 2026, if council members do not reach a new agreement. A nationwide expansion would require a Security Council vote.

Russia, which has veto power, warned against new measures that would affect the Sudanese army. Sudan's UN envoy, Al-Harith Idriss al-Harith Mohamed, urged a technical extension of the existing embargo but warned that expanding the sanctions regime would weaken civilian protection.

Rosemary Di Carlo, the UN under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, said a worrying aspect of the conflict was its increasing complexity. She said sophisticated weapons used in Sudan continued to point to outside support for both sides, and that recent fighting had involved heavy drone use and localised ground combat in areas less affected by rainy-season conditions.

Sudan's war is in its fourth year and has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. The army controls central and eastern areas, while the rival Rapid Support Forces control Darfur in the west and parts of the south.

Peacebuilding activist Eva Khair told the council that external actors were enabling the conflict, while saying they had denied the allegations. She urged the council to enforce the Darfur embargo and expand it to the whole of Sudan.