Kafuri
15°37'N 32°34'E

The opposition Sudanese National Democratic Alliance claimed in July 1997 that the Sudanese regime has built a chemical weapons production factory in the region of Kafuri north of Khartoum. According to another opposition source, a building situated between Kafuri and Hillat Kuku in Khartoum was chosen, which had belonged to Numayri's security service. The fence around it was made higher and five factories were set up inside, in addition to a small hotel for experts and workers.

According to the US House of Representatives Task Force on Terrorims and Unconventional Warfare, in the Summer of 1997, Khartoum completed the building of a new and far more sophisticated chemical weapons production factory in the region of Kafuri, north of Khartoum on the banks of the Blue Nile. A key strategic installation, the Kafuri facility was said to be under the direct command of Brigadier Bakri Hassan Salih, Sudan's Chief of Security Forces. Moreover, two NIF "ideological officials" -- Imad Hussayn and Jamal Zaatan -- reportedly supervise the activities in Kafuri on behalf of Hassan al-Turabi. The Kafuri facility was said to be comprised of five separate departments -- laboratories and test-run/prototype production sites for both chemical weapons (including nerve agents) and biological weapons, as well as storage sites for both bulk chemicals and loaded weapons (both chemical and biological).

Initial test runs of some of the production processes of chemical weapons, most likely nerve agents, were reported to have taken place by the end of 1997. Among the chemical weapons said to be tested in Kafuri are 122mm and 152mm artillery shells as well as rocket and tactical missile warheads. In building this factory, the Sudanese are reported to have relied on technical assistance from Iraq and Iran. Additional expertise was said to have been provided by experts and technicians from Egypt, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Russia who were recruited by Iraqi intelligence on behalf of the Sudanese. The key experts are reportedly residing in a luxurious dormitory inside the compound.