Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, called for the United States to designate Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Speaking at a subcommittee hearing on Sudan’s civil war, Smith accused the RSF of multiple crimes, including a deadly attack on a kindergarten.
Smith’s remarks follow a statement from six senators about six weeks ago, urging consideration of the RSF as an FTO or Specially Designated Global Terrorist. At the same hearing, Rep. Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., who serves as the panel’s ranking member, urged sanctions against entities in the United Arab Emirates that support the RSF. She also called for suspending weapons sales to the UAE until it halts material support to the militia.
Last month, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., attempted but was unsuccessful in pushing for a Senate vote on legislation to suspend arms sales to the UAE.
Vincent Spera, deputy assistant secretary in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, told lawmakers that the administration is using diplomatic efforts to end outside support for both sides in Sudan’s conflict. He stated that “the U.S. has already ‘imposed a wide range of consequences throughout the conflict,’ including sanctioning a transnational network Dec. 9 for allegedly recruiting Colombians to fight for the RSF.”
Chris Smith has represented New Jersey’s 4th district in Congress since 1981 and previously replaced Frank Thompson in that role. Born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1953 and now residing in Manchester Township, Smith graduated from The College of New Jersey with a BS degree in 1975.
The full article is available at https://exportcompliancedaily.com/article/2025/12/12/house-lawmaker-seeks-terror-label-for-sudans-rsf-2512110048?BC=bc_693b86d52a0a5
