UK Sanctions on Sudan Commanders Target El Fasher Atrocities

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UK sanctions on Sudan commanders expanded on Monday, Oct. 26, 2026, when Britain froze the assets of and banned travel by 15 military commanders, militia leaders and security officials from both sides of Sudan’s civil war. London said the designations target suspected atrocities, including conflict-related sexual violence, during the siege and fall of El Fasher, the North Darfur capital, one year ago.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the list covers figures from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and armed groups allied to the army. Britain also pledged £15 million (about $20 million) in new aid: £5 million for survivors of sexual violence and £10 million for the wider humanitarian response.

UK sanctions on Sudan commanders: who was named

The government named two of the 15. Hussein Abu Jalak is an RSF colonel the UK links to atrocities during the siege of El Fasher. Al-Nour Ahmed Adam, known as “Al-Qubba,” was identified as present in the city and playing a prominent role in besieging and attacking it. The full list appears in a 15-page sanctions notice published Monday on GOV.UK.

The designations were made under the Sudan sanctions regulations, which allow Britain to target people involved in serious human rights abuses, violations of international humanitarian law, obstruction of humanitarian aid, or support for armed groups in Sudan. According to the UK’s Sudan designations page, Monday’s 15 names follow 11 added on July 16 and smaller rounds in January, February and April 2026. The government said Monday’s action follows five previous rounds of UK sanctions related to Sudan’s conflict.

Sanctioning commanders on both sides is a notable choice. Much international attention has focused on the RSF, which took El Fasher. By naming army officers and allied militia leaders as well, London is signaling that it holds both warring parties responsible for abuses against civilians.

What investigators found about starvation and sexual violence

Britain tied the move to new UK-funded reporting by the Centre for Information Resilience (CIR), which the government said exposes “a campaign of systematic starvation and conflict-related sexual violence against civilians” by all sides. According to the FCDO, CIR-sourced footage shows RSF fighters discussing shutting off water supplies to El Fasher and stopping traders from bringing food into the city. CIR reporting also describes women and girls being abducted, repeatedly raped and held in conditions amounting to sexual slavery.

El Fasher fell to the RSF in late October 2025 after an 18-month siege that starved hundreds of thousands of civilians. The UK government said civilians were massacred in the days that followed. Siege tactics, drone attacks on civilian infrastructure and aid operations, and the obstruction of relief are still being used as weapons of war, the FCDO said.

Where the £15 million in UK aid will go

The £5 million survivor package will pay for sexual and reproductive health care, maternal health services, psychosocial support and safe spaces for women and girls. The £10 million humanitarian package will expand clean water and sanitation at displacement sites around Tawila and support health and protection services in El Obeid, where fighting and access restrictions have left civilians in acute need.

The government warned that famine risk is rising, driven by attacks on markets, health facilities and displacement camps, the blocking of aid, and drought linked to El Niño.

Sudan’s war spreads across the region

The sanctions land as violence continues across Sudan and its borders. The Boston Report recently covered a drone strike on a market in Abyei that killed at least 153 people, and more than 14,000 Ethiopians fleeing clashes into Kenya as conflict spreads in the Horn of Africa.

Asset freezes and travel bans have limited reach when targets keep their money and movements inside Sudan or in friendly states. But each designation creates a public record and makes it harder for named commanders to use British banks, property or travel. Whether the United States and the European Union follow with matching measures will shape how much pressure the move adds.

Sources

• GOV.UK (FCDO): UK sanctions senior commanders implicated in campaign of rape in Sudan
• GOV.UK: Sudan list of designations and sanctions notices
• Reuters (via The Straits Times): UK sanctions 15 commanders from rival Sudan factions
• Reuters (via StreetInsider): Oct. 26 world news summaries