By Felix Omara

SUDAN -The conflict has produced one of the world's largest humanitarian crises. According to UN estimates, more than 14 million people have been forced to flee their homes, while tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that emergency relief supplies allocated for Sudan through the organization's "Common Humanitarian Corridor" are close to running out.

Despite the scale of the crisis, all international mediation efforts to end the conflict have faded.

The US State Department has said that neither the Sudanese army nor the Rapid Support Forces, nor the leadership of either side, represents a legitimate and constitutional authority to govern Sudan, stating that both sides are ruling through force of arms.

Department spokesman Tommy Pigott added that neither side had demonstrated a serious commitment to an immediate ceasefire, but had instead escalated combat operations and drone strikes that have killed civilians.

Chemical Weapons Allegations

The issue of chemical weapons use remains one of the most neglected files on the international community's agenda regarding the war in Sudan.

In early 2025, the United States confirmed the use of chemical weapons by the Sudanese army and imposed sanctions on Sudan as a result.

The United Nations has expressed its readiness to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use in Sudan if granted an official mandate to conduct a fact-finding mission.

UN Secretary-General's spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said: "No one should use chemical weapons," warning against a repetition of atrocities witnessed by the world in the past.

The UN spokesperson also affirmed the United Nations' support for efforts aimed at halting the external supplies fueling the war and expanding the parties' combat capabilities, while civilians bear the greatest cost.

Field Evidence

Since 2025, local and international investigations have revealed evidence of chemical weapons use by the army.

In January, The New York Times reported on the allegations, followed by French channel France 24 during the same year.

In September, The Washington Post and The New York Times revealed investigative information based on classified documents indicating that the Sudanese army had established a stockpile of chemical weapons, including the production and development of munitions and bombs containing chlorine gas, and that it had used them against the Rapid Support Forces.

The Washington Post described it as a dangerous development that further aggravates the civil war that has been raging for three years and has produced the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Before the 112th session of the Executive Council of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), held in The Hague last July, the United States again said that the Sudanese army had used chemical weapons during 2024, stating that Sudan remained in non-compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention during 2025.

Washington said that, following a "rigorous and independent technical analysis," it had concluded that the Sudanese government had used chemical weapons in 2024 and remained in non-compliance in 2025.

Sudan has been a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention since 1999, and therefore the use of toxic chemicals as weapons constitutes a violation of its international obligations.

However, an independent international investigation remains limited. The government in Port Sudan presented a national investigation that concluded that no evidence proving the use of chemical weapons had been found. The United States rejected the national mechanism as a substitute for independent international verification.

Egypt has engaged in international initiatives to end the war, but Reuters reported last November that a powerful model of Turkish combat drones had been deployed on an airstrip along Egypt's southwestern border.

The report has raised further questions about external supplies fueling the war and the double standards in addressing violations, including the alleged use of chemical weapons, while civilians continue to pay the highest price.