The US has imposed sanctions on the leader of Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for his role in atrocities in parts of Sudan.

In a statement dated 7, Jannuary, 2024, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that he determined that members of the RSF and allied Arab militias had committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

He said the RSF and allied militias were responsible for the murder of “men and boys – even infants”, as well as brutal sexual violence against women on ethnic grounds.”

In response, the RSF accused the US of double standards and failing to effectively address the ongoing crisis.

“The decision… expresses the failure of the [US President Joe] Biden administration to deal with the Sudanese crisis and the double standards it followed [with regards to the crisis],” Hemedti’s adviser, El-Basha Tbaeq, said in a post on his X account, according to the BBC.

The US has accused both SAD and RSF accused of committing atrocities-with estimates suggesting up to 150,000 people had been killed in the conflict.

The sanctions bar Hemedti and his immediate family members from visiting the US, and any personal assets there are blocked.

Seven RSF-owned companies based in the United Arab Emirates and one other individual are also being sanctioned for helping the paramilitary group procure weapons, the BBC has reported.  The UAE has denied numerous accusations that it is funding and arming the RSF.

Almost all the sanctioned companies are connected to the gold trade. One of them, AZ Gold, imports gold from Sudan and then sells it.

The US Treasury said in a statement that one of Hemedti’s brothers, Algoney, maintained access to AZ Gold’s bank account in the UAE, which held millions of dollars.

Hemedti and the RSF have controlled some of the country’s most lucrative gold mines, in Jebel Amer in North Darfur, and is now said to control others in Songo near the border with Central African Republic, as well as more over the border.

The sanctioning of Hemedti, means all three Dagalo brothers, including his deputy Abdel Rahim and his younger brother and procurement chief Algoney, are now under US sanctions.