NAIROBI — The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on the head of the Sudanese military, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, for allegedly presiding over attacks on civilians, denying food aid to Sudanese citizens and contributing to what Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the “world’s worst humanitarian crisis.”

The asset freeze — imposed amid a flurry of actions as the administration rushes to make use of its final days in power — comes as famine has taken hold of large portions of Sudan amid the country’s prolonged civil war.

“There’s no military solution to this conflict,” Blinken told reporters Thursday ahead of the sanctions announcement. “People are suffering grievously in Sudan.”

The Treasury Department said in a statement that Burhan had presided over a military that “has committed lethal attacks on civilians, including airstrikes against protected infrastructure including schools, markets, and hospitals.” It also blamed him for refusing to participate in peace talks to try to end the conflict.

“Today’s action underscores our commitment to seeing an end to this conflict,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement. “The United States will continue to use our tools to disrupt the flow of weapons into Sudan and hold these leaders responsible for their blatant disregard of civilian lives.”

There was no immediate official response from the Sudanese military to the designation, which follows a similar move by Washington last week to put sanctions on Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, universally known as Hemedti, who leads the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

“Taken together, these sanctions underscore the U.S. view that neither man is fit to govern a future, peaceful Sudan,” Blinken said in a statement after the sanctions were announced.

The U.S. government said eight months ago that around 150,000 people have died in the Sudan conflict. Washington has accused both sides of committing war crimes, and the RSF of committing ethnic cleansing and genocide.

Since war erupted in April 2023 following a power struggle between the military and the RSF, more than 11 million people have had to flee their homes, creating the world’s largest displacement crisis. As citizens flee, the war has sucked in fighters from neighboring countries seeking to loot. The fighting has also created a creeping famine; the United Nations says just over half of the population of 51 million people need aid. One-third are hungry.

The sanctions underscore American frustration at the lack of progress in resolving the conflict, which now will be left to the Trump administration to try to address.

Humanitarian organizations have previously criticized the Sudanese military for putting onerous conditions on the delivery of aid, including refusing permission for convoys to pass through key border crossings to areas hit by famine last year. In December, the military withdrew from the U.N. body responsible for declaring famine.

The United States has repeatedly tried to bring together the warring parties for peace talks, but only the RSF attended the most recent meeting in Switzerland last August.

Meanwhile, other foreign powers have fueled the conflict. The United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally, has been supplying weapons to the RSF, while Iran has supplied weapons to the military. Russia, says Washington, has armed both sides.

A Sudanese official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal considerations, said any sanctions would probably push Sudan closer to Russia’s camp, and that the Russian defense ministry had already offered to support the military with Africa Corps, a state-run paramilitary that succeeded the notorious Wagner Group of Russian mercenaries.

“Sudan is suffering already from the Islamists, including ISIS,” the Sudanese official said. “The public will stand up and support the head of the state and move a relationship forward with elements or forces against the United States government.”

This year, the Sudanese military has gained ground in the capital — still hotly contested between the two forces — and retaken the agricultural city of Wad Madani in the southern agricultural heartlands, a year after the RSF had captured it. A statement from the United Nations on Thursday said only a third of the city’s population remained and that the main hospital had been damaged and looted.

Videos purporting to be from the city show widespread bloodshed and executions, and the military issued an unusual statement this week acknowledging “individuals” had committed killings but stopping short of taking responsibility.

The conflict is complicated by the involvement of undisciplined militias supporting both sides. The RSF draws on clan militias from Darfur, mercenaries from neighboring countries and other forces; the military fights alongside civilian militias often organized and armed by retired military officers active under the Islamist regime of the previous president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, himself wanted for genocide by the International Criminal Court.

Both sides have repeatedly attacked hospitals, civilian neighborhoods and other infrastructure. Since the start of the conflict, the United Nations says more than 110 aid workers have been killed, wounded, kidnapped or are missing. Doctors and medical staff have been kidnapped, arrested and killed; the United Nations has also documented at least 512 attacks on health-care systems between April 2023 and November 2024.

Birnbaum reported from Washington.

previous coverage

• Sudan’s military retakes a strategic city from RSF rebels, dealing them a major blow
• US says Sudan rebel force has committed genocide, imposes sanctions on the group’s leaders