'Get away': One man's account of people struggling to breathe after Sudan chemical attack

In early September 2024, a 50-year-old car salesman was en route to Shindi, north of Sudan's capital, when he observed armed men tending to five individuals who appeared to be in distress and struggling to breathe. The area in which the incident occurred was under the control of the army but situated near positions held by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been engaged in a civil war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) since October 2023.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, described the scene from Al Jaili area in Bahri, one of the three Nile-side cities that make up the capital's broader region, which also includes Khartoum and Omdurman. He recounted hearing intense gunfire and explosions, indicating a significant battle nearby. Approaching the soldiers, the man requested assistance, to which they responded, "Get away from here as fast as you can."

He waited in the vicinity to observe the aftermath. Later, a minibus without number plates arrived and removed the five affected individuals, who were reportedly experiencing breathing difficulties. While he initially was uncertain about the cause of their condition, he later surmised that they may have been involved in operations at the Al Jaili oil refinery.

The witness's account aligns with various reports regarding the alleged chemical weapons attack by SAF on RSF in the capital in 2024, though it has not been independently verified. The events in Bahri two years ago were part of a broader military campaign by the SAF and its allies to regain control of the capital, which the RSF had seized in the initial stages of the war.

The National newspaper obtained this account shortly after The New York Times and The Washington Post published a detailed dossier revealing the SAF's extensive chemical weapons program and their efforts to conceal evidence. The dossier, which includes videos, photographs, and other evidence, provides the most comprehensive account to date of the clandestine operation, prompting the US to impose sanctions on key SAF officials in January 2025.

Gen. Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the SAF chief and a central figure in the dossier, reportedly had direct knowledge of the chemical weapons program, which is believed to have started in 2024 with tests conducted in the desert. Despite repeated chlorine leaks, production was expanded. Following the US sanctions in May 2025, intercepted communications revealed that Gen. Al Burhan ordered the production official to "remove all traces" of the program.

While the death toll from the alleged chemical attacks by the SAF is not confirmed, investigations have corroborated evidence indicating the use of chlorine, possibly dropped from aircraft. The ongoing conflict in Sudan, which has been ongoing since the 1950s, has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, displaced over 10 million people, and established the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with nearly half the population facing hunger.

Only two days after witnessing the incident, the witness learned that the area was contaminated and that numerous people were affected. He later received information from a relative that two civilians had died due to the contamination while receiving hospital treatment. Since that incident, he has avoided the area altogether.