Indian firm, CEO among entities sanctioned by US for ‘inciting’ civil war in Sudan
The US has imposed sanctions on eight individuals and entities, including an Indian national linked to an explosives firm, for allegedly fomenting civil war in Sudan.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Friday (June 26, 2026) that targeting networks allowed both the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Force (RSF) to expand and intensify the civil war in the African nation.
Among the individuals sanctioned is Raipur-based Alok Choudhari, CEO of SBL Energy Limited, also known as Amin Explosive Private Limited, who allegedly supplied more than 200 consignments of explosives and explosive-related materials to the company that maintained the SAF’s arsenal.
The Ministry of Finance also imposed sanctions on SBL Energy Limited and other firms based in Sudan and Egypt.
“These networks supply weapons, explosives, and foreign fighters to both the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces. Their support has prolonged the conflict, which has created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and provided space for terrorist groups to operate,” Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the US State Department, said in a statement.
Raipur-based SBL Energy allegedly supplied explosives and related material to Sudan-based Target Multiactivities Company (TMAC), the US Treasury said. The explosives were subsequently used in bombs deployed by the SAF.
TMAC and its CEO, senior DIS officer Tariq Hussain Muhammad Madani, were also blacklisted.
According to the US Treasury Department, the Defense Industries System (DIS), Sudan’s largest defense enterprise, supports and maintains the SAF’s arsenal of weapons, ammunition, vehicles and materiel, often obtained from Iran and other external backers.
DIS controls numerous subsidiaries, including the Sudanese conglomerate Giad Industrial Group (Giad) — also known as Sudan Master Technology — through complex and opaque structures from which it has generated billions of dollars. DIS’s acquisition of military equipment and related materiel enabled the SAF to maintain combat operations against the RSF, conduct attacks against civilians and repel and defend efforts to cease hostilities and achieve a ceasefire, the US Treasury said, adding that DIS and Giad were sanctioned in 2023.
OFAC also designated Ports Engineering Company Ltd, a state-owned civil engineering firm established in 1998 and headquartered in Port Sudan.
Linked to Sudan Master Technology, the firm has reportedly been importing military uniforms and footwear for Sudan’s intelligence services from a company in the United Arab Emirates, along with ammunition belts and gun holsters from a Turkish firm since the conflict broke out in April 2023.
The restrictions also targeted individuals connected to a transnational network that recruits former Colombian military personnel to fight alongside the RSF.
The network, led by former Colombian officer Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra and his wife Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was previously sanctioned by Washington.
U.S. authorities have blacklisted three people associated with Panama-based Talent Bridge, SA, which was allegedly used to cover up recruitment operations.
The sanctioned individuals, all of whom held executive or managerial roles in the company, include Panamanian citizens Enrique Daniel Palacios Quintanilla and Jack Peter Derman Guzman, as well as Colombian citizen Fredy Alejandro Lopez Ocampo.
Published – 27 Jun 2026 21:44 IST