Washington DC - The US State Department claimed on Tuesday that Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had "committed genocide" in the country's brutal civil war and imposed sanctions on the paramilitary group's leader.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the determination was based on information about the RSF's "systematic" murder of men and boys and the targeted rape of women and girls from certain ethnic groups.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible," Blinken said, announcing sanctions against RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, for his "role in systematic atrocities committed against the Sudanese people."

Daglo had been designated "for his involvement in gross violations of human rights in Darfur, namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control," and he and his family members are now ineligible for entry to the US, he said.

Donald Trump Trump gets latest favorable ruling as judge blocks release of report on classified docs case

The Treasury Department unveiled its own sanctions against Daglo on Tuesday, accusing the RSF of engaging in "a brutal armed conflict with the Sudanese Armed Forces for control of Sudan."

The UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, adopted after World War II, defines genocide as "acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

A "genocide" designation by the US State Department is rare. Tuesday's determination against the RSF is only the ninth time – including the Holocaust – that it has been made.

The move stands in stark contrast to the Biden administration's stance on Israel's assault on Palestinians in Gaza, fueled by US weapons, money, and diplomatic backing.

Donald Trump Trump reportedly complaining about "clingy" Elon Musk behind closed doors

Despite ample evidence of genocidal actions provided in ongoing court cases, reports by human rights organizations, and investigations by legal experts, the US has refused to acknowledge that its close ally has committed any war crimes.

Sudan has been torn apart and pushed towards famine by the war that erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the RSF.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than eight million internally displaced, making Sudan the scene of the world's largest internal displacement crisis.

The United Nations says that more than 30 million people – over half of them children – are in need of aid.