Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF)

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is Sudan's national military; it traces its origins to the Sudan Defence Force founded in 1925, with its current form dating to 1956. Its commander is General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who also chairs the Transitional Sovereignty Council. The SAF has been fighting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a civil war that began in April 2023. On 16 January 2025 the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Burhan under Executive Order 14098, alleging that SAF forces carried out indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and blocked humanitarian access. Treasury noted that in December 2023 Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that members of the SAF had committed war crimes. Treasury describes the SAF's Defense Industries System as its primary procurement arm, sanctioned by OFAC in June 2023, and Zadna International was sanctioned in January 2024. The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan reported in September 2025 that the SAF and allies targeted the Kanabi community in Gezira, and Human Rights Watch said in June 2026 it found no public investigation of RSF defectors received by the army.