US project to dry up arms and drone flows to Sudan

New York (Agencies): The United States has submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council to expand the scope of the UN-imposed arms embargo on the Darfur region to cover all of Sudan, in a move aimed at halting external arms flows fueling the war and tightening oversight of drone networks and the financing and arming of the warring parties.

Mas’ad Pauls, the US President’s senior advisor for Arab and African affairs, said during a Security Council session on Sudan yesterday that the continued influx of drones, military vehicles, and weapons from abroad has prolonged the conflict and widened the harm inflicted on civilians. He noted that more than 12 countries provide some form of military support to both sides of the conflict.

Pauls explained that Washington sees the need to consider expanding the current arms embargo, which is currently limited to Darfur, to apply nationwide, or to impose a new, comprehensive embargo on the country. He warned that a further influx of weapons would necessitate counter-military support and push Sudan into what he described as a “death spiral,” the cost of which is borne by civilians.

Under the sanctions regime established by Security Council Resolution 1591 of 2005, the current geographic embargo is limited to the Darfur region and does not cover the rest of Sudanese territory. Leading the effort as the sponsor of the draft resolution, the United States is moving to amend and expand the sanctions regime and strengthen the mechanisms for monitoring its implementation.

The US draft resolution clarifies that the arms embargo includes drones, their components, and related technologies. It also proposes increasing the number of experts on the panel tasked with monitoring sanctions and expanding its cooperation with other UN sanctions teams and committees, in an attempt to close loopholes exploited by cross-border supply and financing networks.

However, the draft resolution requires approval from the Security Council, amid explicit Russian opposition and expected reservations from China.

Pauls focused particularly on the significant escalation in the use of drones by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). He stated that both sides had shifted to remote warfare during the rainy season, relying on drones provided by external actors, rather than treating the season as an opportunity for a decrease in hostilities.

He pointed out that drones and air strikes target civilian sites and critical infrastructure, including hospitals, bridges, humanitarian crossings, and aid convoys, noting that even funeral processions were not spared from attacks. Pauls urged the committee to explore possible tools to curb this “deadly” development in warfare tactics, emphasizing that the use of drones against civilians and critical facilities, as well as aid delivery routes, has become a direct obstacle to peace efforts.

Pauls accused external actors of flooding Sudan with weapons, stating that more than 12 countries provide various forms of military support to both warring parties. He also called on the panel of experts to intensify investigations into gold smuggling and the links between its revenues and networks purchasing arms and drones, noting that the precious metal constitutes one of the primary sources of funding for the war effort and arms flows into Sudan.

Pauls stated that the war has witnessed some of the worst patterns of violence, including atrocities rising to the level of genocide, citing crimes committed by the RSF and the SAF’s use of chemical weapons. He affirmed that the United States “cannot stand idly by” in the face of the threat of new atrocities, as civilians in large parts of Sudan face drone attacks and strikes on civilian sites and critical infrastructure.

Describing the situation in Sudan as extremely dangerous, he pointed to continued displacement, the spread of cholera and hunger, and the denial of education to children, alongside sexual assaults and exploitation and kidnapping targeting women and children.