Drone Strikes Rock Port Sudan, Escalating Conflict
Drone attacks have plunged Port Sudan into chaos for the third consecutive day, targeting critical infrastructure including the city’s airport and main army base. Once seen as a haven for displaced civilians, Port Sudan is now under direct assault amid Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
On Monday, a drone hit the country’s largest fuel depot, triggering a massive fire just south of the city. By dawn Tuesday, residents reported loud explosions and thick smoke rising from the port and surrounding areas. One drone slammed into the civilian section of Port Sudan airport, grounding all flights and igniting fires in several buildings, according to airport sources.
Another drone strike zeroed in on the central army base near the residence of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. A nearby hotel also suffered damage. A third drone reportedly targeted a second fuel depot in the city’s south, a densely populated zone hosting displaced persons and humanitarian operations.
The army attributes the attacks to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have stepped up drone warfare after losing Khartoum. Witnesses also reported anti-aircraft fire from military bases in northern Port Sudan.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the drone attacks a “worrying development,” especially as nearly all humanitarian aid flows through the now-threatened city. The RSF’s increased use of drones—ranging from improvised models to sophisticated versions allegedly supplied by the UAE—has crippled army infrastructure and blacked out cities in the northeast.
Sudan remains divided between the army and RSF factions. With 13 million displaced and 25 million facing famine, the use of drones has only intensified what’s now the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis.
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