Former OPCW officials allege chemical weapons use in Sudan

A group led by former senior officials of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has compiled a 32-page investigation alleging possible chemical weapons use in Sudan’s civil war, according to an Euronews report published on Tuesday. The team cites witness testimony, images and other digital material pointing to incidents in 2024 and 2025, including an episode near Khartoum at the Al-Jili Oil Refinery in September 2024. Sudan’s government has repeatedly denied using banned weapons.

According to Euronews, the investigators describe a cluster of indicators that do not look like conventional bombardment: acute respiratory distress among those exposed, unfamiliar odors, colored explosive blasts, longer-term health problems, and signs of environmental damage. The report relies on eight Sudanese witnesses interviewed in Nairobi, including people who say they were directly exposed, emergency responders and a healthcare professional. Euronews says it reviewed pictures cited by the report but did not itself interview the witnesses or inspect video footage or other digital evidence.

Two witnesses interviewed separately are described as providing the strongest testimony about the Al-Jili incident. They told investigators a military aircraft flew overhead shortly before barrel-shaped objects fell, followed by impacts that did not resemble standard explosive attacks. Roughly twenty workers then experienced acute respiratory symptoms, Euronews reports. At the time, the area was controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group fighting Sudan’s army and sanctioned by the EU and US for serious human rights violations.

The investigation’s authors are calling for the OPCW and its member states to open a formal inquiry. That demand highlights a recurring problem in modern war: the evidentiary chain is increasingly assembled from displaced witnesses, smartphone media and remote analysis, while the physical sites remain inaccessible or controlled by armed actors with every reason to curate what outsiders can see. In Sudan, where front lines and authority shift, even basic questions—who controlled the airspace, who had stockpiles, who could safely document aftermath—become part of the dispute.

The allegations also arrive in a geopolitical environment where enforcement tends to lag accusation. Euronews notes that the US imposed sanctions on Sudan in April 2025 over alleged chemical weapons use, while Khartoum has denied wrongdoing. Separate reporting by the New York Times and the Washington Post in early September 2026 also pointed to possible chemical weapons use, citing Middle Eastern intelligence and describing pictures of stockpiles and correspondence among Sudanese officials.

The Euronews account ultimately rests on a narrow set of interviews conducted outside the country and material that has not been independently verified on the ground. The report’s most concrete episode is tied to a specific place and date: the Al-Jili Oil Refinery near Khartoum in September 2024.