Sudan’s SAF junta chief Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan has ordered an “immediate” investigation into U.S. accusations that his forces used chemical weapons, a late move analysts view as an attempt to pin blame elsewhere before new American sanctions begin June 1.
The committee, announced Thursday by state-run SUNA, comes roughly six months after Washington first sanctioned Burhan over alleged war-crimes tactics, including the use of internationally banned munitions.
The fresh measures will curb most U.S. exports to Sudan and block access to U.S. credit lines.
Rights groups inside Sudan are simultaneously compiling dossiers on abuses by Burhan’s Port Sudan–based command and allied jihadist militias, hoping to push cases into international courts.
The U.S. Treasury previously cited indiscriminate shelling of civilian sites, attacks on schools, markets and hospitals, summary executions and obstruction of aid as grounds for penalties.
‘Looking for a fall guy’
“Burhan is in real trouble,” said Sudanese analyst Ammar Saeed. “If U.S. pressure intensifies, this committee will serve to sacrifice a fall guy — maybe hard-line units like the Baraa bin Malik militia — rather than expose the chain of command that approved chemical weapons.”
Local media and rights reports have repeatedly linked the Islamist-leaning Baraa bin Malik group to chemical attacks, most recently in a leaked video from Darfur that showed what witnesses called retaliatory killings.
Some Sudan observers doubt Burhan will turn on core Port Sudan commanders, yet note widening rifts between the army and Muslim Brotherhood-aligned militias could give him room to dismantle a partnership many officials now call a liability.
U-turn Burhan
The probe order contrasts sharply with Port Sudan junta’s initial response to Washington’s latest sanctions package. Culture and Information Minister Khalid al-Issaer last week dismissed the allegations as “political blackmail and falsification.” Analysts say Burhan’s sudden retreat reflects concern about alienating U.S. President Donald Trump, whose administration is brokering cease-fire talks.
The committee must deliver “prompt results,” Burhan’s decree says, but critics expect delays and the possibility that findings will blame “hostile elements,” sidestepping evidence compiled by international monitors.
“This looks like a political façade to buy time,” Saeed said. “If on-the-ground investigators prove official involvement, the fallout could extend beyond sanctions to international prosecution — a scenario Burhan hopes to avoid by shifting blame before it sticks.”