Sky News Arabia has learned from reliable sources within official circles in Port Sudan that a tender announced by the Khartoum State Water Authority to supply 800 tons of liquid chlorine gas was requested by military and security agencies and awarded to a company affiliated with the army, in a move that shut the door on the private sector. This information has raised questions about the possibility of using this substance for military purposes.
Al-Nour Hamad, a member of the leadership council of the Sudanese Founding Alliance, told Sky News Arabia that “there is absolutely no justification for such a move,” citing reports that a specialist at the Water Authority believes Khartoum currently needs no more than 1.5 to 3 tons of chlorine for water purification, while the announced tender is for 800 tons.
Hamad noted that previous imports took place every six months in quantities far lower than this figure, making the quantity currently requested “suspicious.”
He added that water purification is “a civilian activity that should be carried out by the Water Supply Authority,” noting that the fact that the import is being handled by a military entity is “abnormal,” and that “many other circumstances make this matter raise suspicion and doubt that the use will be military.”
Sudanese Coalition Calls for International Investigation into Chemical Weapons Allegations
Hamad expressed his belief that there is “suspicion of dual use of this substance,” noting that this is reinforced by a statement from Lt. Gen. Yasser al-Ata, who said: “If the commander-in-chief permits, we will use lethal force,” explaining that this expression is used to refer to “chemical or biological weapons without any other interpretation.”
He also referred to previous calls made by the Islamist leader Hajj Majid Suwar regarding the use of lethal force. Hamad concluded that when these factors are considered together, it becomes clear that the situation is extremely grave, and that the country may be heading toward a phase he described as utterly terrifying.
Documented Precedents and Media Blackout
Hamad asserted that chemical weapons “have already been used in Darfur and in Khartoum,” citing reports in The New York Times from U.S. officials and a statement by the U.S. State Department claiming it possesses “strong evidence that chemical weapons were used.”
He pointed to field testimonies describing “suffocation, skin burns, and changes in blood,” as well as what he described as images available online “showing soldiers using chemical weapons while entrenched in certain buildings and firing these weapons through openings.”
Hamad noted that the media blackout imposed by security forces, in addition to “Islamist extremist militias,” prevents the media from “having any chance to access the facts on the ground.” However, what appeared at Al-Nawawi Hospital, in Khartoum, and other areas—specifically skin lesions—“are all signs of chemical warfare,” as he put it.
An Assessment of the War’s Outcome
Hamad believes that the promotion of Yasser al-Ata to Chief of Staff “clearly indicates there is a plan to resolve this war not through conventional weapons but through chemical weapons.”
He added that he believes the army “has failed to resolve these battles and has retreated in all its attempts,” making the resort to chemical weapons—in his view—“the only chance for victory.”
He noted that Burhan’s recent statements regarding what he describes as the liberation of Kordofan and Darfur align with this picture, emphasizing that “all signs point to this war heading toward conditions even more catastrophic than they are now and than anything experienced before.”
Hamad called on the international community to investigate this matter and to designate chlorine as a “controlled substance subject to specific import limits and usage monitoring in the water sector,” given its “dual-use” nature.
