Sudan
Sudan’s Potential LPG Deal Exposes Red Sea Contest
Türkiye’s proposed liquefied petroleum gas terminal at Suakin is not an LNG breakthrough. But it does expose the widening competition for access to Sudan’s Red Sea coast, and the leverage that control of the shoreline gives the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).Port Deals as Wartime LeverageSudan’s Sea Ports Corporation signed a memorandum with Turkish energy company Argaz on July 15. The terminal would store 28,000 cubic metres of LPG, serve three vessels simultaneously and operate under a build-operate-transfer arrangement. Officials claim it could save Sudan $200 million annually in foreign-currency costs.Those figures remain projections. No cost, financing package, concession length or schedule has been published. Sudanese former energy minister Adel Ibrahim told Radio Dabanga on July 22 that the authorities had disclosed neither competitive bidding nor the feasibility, site-selection and financing work required. More seriously, he said the SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan previously refused to end the army’s monopoly over…
SAF De Facto Rejects US Peace Plan
Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), has dampened prospects for a US-led peace plan, vowing on July 24 in Khartoum North to eliminate the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and declaring no place for the group "after today," according to Sudan Tribune.Burhan's remarks did not formally reject the plan. But combined with the SAF-led government's demand for full RSF withdrawal from occupied cities, they leave the initiative facing what amounts to a conditional refusal.The US proposal, seen by Reuters, calls for a 90-day truce, talks on a permanent ceasefire, and a civilian-led transition, without preconditions. Sudan's government accepted most of it but demanded full RSF withdrawal; the RSF accepted the truce but rejected that clause, continuing operations in Kordofan.Saudi Arabia, a US mediation partner, is aligned with SAF, according to UK Home Office guidance citing ACLED. Yet that alignment has not visibly translated into…
Cargo Flights Underscore Foreign Role in Sudan
Foreign sponsorship has become a central operational driver of Sudan's civil war. Competing supply networks give both sides access to drones, munitions and logistics that help them replace losses and continue fighting despite repeated peace efforts.Flight-tracking records show SU-SAW, a Boeing 737-8F2 operated by the Egyptian cargo carrier Air Master, flying from Istanbul to Port Sudan on June 26. The record confirms that the route was used; it does not establish what the aircraft carried.Ground evidence supplies context absent from flight data. The Washington Post reported that Baykar supplied SAF with at least $120 million in drones, warheads, and supporting equipment under a contract and end-user certificate reviewed by the newspaper. Amnesty International documented recently manufactured Turkish, Chinese, Russian, and Emirati weapons inside Sudan. ACLED tracks SAF's variable network of Turkish, Egyptian, Iranian, Saudi, and Eritrean support against RSF's dependence on alleged Emirati backing.External supplies can reduce the material pressure…
ICC Ends Banda Darfur War Crimes Case
The International Criminal Court (ICC) terminated its case against Sudanese rebel commander Abdallah Banda on July 23 and vacated his outstanding arrest warrant.The charges concerned Banda's alleged role in the September 2007 attack on an African Union peacekeeping base at Haskanita in North Darfur, which killed 12 peacekeepers. He faced three war crimes counts: violence to life, intentionally attacking a peacekeeping mission and pillaging.Trial Chamber IV found prosecutors had not demonstrated that the evidence had deteriorated enough to prevent a trial. The judges nevertheless concluded that proceeding while the prosecution refused to present its case would conflict with the court's duty to ensure a fair and efficient trial – while deploring the prosecution's position.The Office of the Prosecutor said the evidence had significantly deteriorated over time: witnesses became unavailable or uncooperative, credibility concerns emerged with others, and newly obtained exculpatory material weakened the case. Prosecutors concluded there was no reasonable…
Drone Strike Raises Chad — Sudan Border Tensions
A drone from Sudan reportedly struck Bamina in eastern Chad on July 21, injuring two children and burning vehicles and shops, according to a local Chadian official quoted by Sudan Tribune.The official said two locations were hit about seven kilometres inside Chad. He did not accuse either side in Sudan’s war, and no publicly available evidence has established who operated the aircraft.The attack coincided with reported reinforcements around Tina and Kulbus on the Sudanese side. Darfur24 reported that the Rapid Support Forces may be preparing to advance on Tina, while the Sudanese Armed Forces and allied Joint Force reinforced the town. Those battlefield claims remain independently unconfirmed.Repeated strikes threaten markets, medical evacuations and humanitarian access. They also risk drawing Chad more directly into Sudan’s civil war. A Chadian government response, verified identification of the drone or a confirmed advance on Tina would mark the next escalation threshold.
UK Sanctions Gold Networks Funding Sudan’s War
Britain has sanctioned 11 people and companies accused of using gold, procurement and financial networks to support both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).The designations, announced on July 16, target Sudanese individuals and companies trading internationally through markets including Dubai and Hong Kong. British officials called illicit gold and finance central to the war economy: official gold exports were worth $1.5 billion across 2024 and 2025, while several billion dollars more may be smuggled out each year, according to the government.Britain accuses Abu Dharr Abdul Nabi Habiballa Ahmmed of financing and sustaining RSF operations from outside Sudan through real estate, conflict gold and holding companies based in Dubai. Prodigious Real Estate Management Supervision Services was sanctioned as part of his alleged commercial network.The UK also designated RSF-linked procurement operatives Mazin Fadlalla and Ahmed Hashim, alongside Natwest Logistics LLC and Aoun Commercial Brokers LLC, which are…
