New evidence points to chemical weapons use by Sudan’s army

New reports by The New York Times and The Washington Post indicate that the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, not only used chemical weapons during the civil war but also established a secret stockpile and subsequently attempted to conceal the program. The dossier includes videos, photographs, bomb blueprints, and text messages obtained from the cellphones of senior Sudanese officers.

According to the documents, the SAF initiated a program in 2024 to produce bombs containing chlorine gas. It is alleged that some of the chlorine used was sourced from a civilian water treatment plant that had received international aid. Western intelligence officials and chemical weapons experts who reviewed the material described it as credible evidence of a chemical weapons program, though they emphasized that conclusive assessment would require access to suspected sites.

Intercepted communications suggest that General Al Burhan had direct knowledge of the effort, a factor cited in the US decision to sanction SAF-aligned authorities in January 2025. Following these sanctions, the reports indicate that Al Burhan ordered the removal of all traces of the program.

These revelations come amid mounting international pressure for a ceasefire in Sudan. A recent UN fact-finding report also stated that the SAF has significantly expanded its drone capabilities using foreign-supplied systems. In response, the United States is pushing for the UN Security Council to expand its arms embargo to cover all of Sudan to curb the flow of weapons to the warring parties.