The United States government has sanctioned the Sudanese paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for committing genocide in the ongoing civil war in the North African country, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of State.

The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the RSF and its militia allies of launching “a conflict of unmitigated brutality that has resulted in the world’s largest humanitarian catastrophe, leaving 638,000 Sudanese experiencing the worst famine in Sudan’s recent history”.

According to the statement, most of the atrocities in the civil war between the RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces include the systematic murdering of men and boys — even infants.

The RSF was also accused of deliberate and targeted rape and other forms of brutal sexual violence against women and girls from certain ethnic groups during targeted violence on the people in the western region of Darfur.

Subsequently, the Department of State announced that it is sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in the ongoing violence in Sudan. Several companies linked to the group were also sanctioned.

“We are today sanctioning RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo Mousa, known as Hemedti, for his role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people,” the Department of State statement read.

“We are also sanctioning seven RSF-owned companies located in the United Arab Emirates and one individual for their roles in procuring weapons for the RSF.”