The U.S. has announced new sanctions on two Sudanese military factions and on companies linked to both sides, which have been fueling a war that has killed hundreds of people in Africa's third-largest nation.
The military of Sudan, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, since April 15 in a massive conflict that has destroyed the capital, Khartoum, and displaced at least one million people.
The sanctions came days after Sudan's military pulled out of peace talks in Jeddah, led by American and Saudi diplomats, in a country where 25 million of the country's 46 million people urgently need help, according to the United Nations.
The administration denounced the sanctions as a reaction to the collapse of those talks. But the move signaled a growing international impatience with the rival military parties, whose feud has resulted in the release of Sudanese refugees into neighboring nations and sparked fears of a larger regional conflict.