Smoke rises from a building next to a damaged car on a street in Khartoum, Sudan on October 1, 2023.

The European Union has agreed a sanctions framework designed to target key figures in the war in Sudan, amid heightened international efforts to quell the ongoing conflict in the African country.

The sanctions, which were proposed in July but not approved until Monday, will impose asset freezes and travel bans on those potentially altering the course of conflict, according to sources familiar with the matter.

EU foreign ministers still need to give a final sign off later this month before the bloc can start adding individuals and entities to the list.

Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been fighting since April 15 over a power struggle between army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who heads the paramilitary force.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over four million people have been internally displaced as a result of the surge in violence, and another million have fled to neighboring countries.

Last month, the UN warned that millions of people across Sudan are running out of food and are on the brink of famine as the war-torn Northeast African country is spiraling out of control.

The international community, including the UN, the Arab League and many countries in the world, has already urged the country’s two military leaders and their allies to stop the aggression and resolve their issues through dialog for the sake of the suffering Sudanese nation.

So far, most mediation efforts have largely failed and a few instances of the temporary humanitarian ceasefires were violated by the warring factions.