Drone Strikes Devastate Port Sudan: Fuel Depot Destroyed, Power Cut in Key Aid Hub

 

Drone Strikes Hit Port Sudan, Destroy Fuel Depot and Knock Out Power in Strategic City

Explosions and fires shook Port Sudan on Tuesday as a wave of drone attacks targeted the city, which has served as Sudan’s de facto wartime capital. Eyewitnesses reported massive black smoke rising near the port, and multiple blasts were heard across other areas. One of the strikes hit a key power substation, plunging the city into darkness in what officials described as a systematic assault on critical infrastructure.

Port Sudan, previously a rare haven of stability since the civil war erupted in April 2023, now faces a new front in the conflict. The attacks have devastated the country’s largest fuel depot—vital for nationwide energy supply and humanitarian aid delivery. As the main gateway for foreign assistance and home to UN operations, diplomats, and hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians, the city’s role is crucial in managing what the United Nations has labeled the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Military sources blamed the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for the attacks, although the group has not claimed responsibility. The drone strikes began Sunday, targeting a military base near Sudan’s only operational international airport, then moved to the city’s fuel depots and even struck near a hotel close to the residence of military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The RSF, which lost ground in March when the army regained control of Khartoum and parts of central Sudan, appears to have shifted strategy—launching aerial drone attacks deeper into army-held territories. Meanwhile, the Sudanese army has continued airstrikes in Darfur, an RSF stronghold, and both sides remain locked in fierce battles for control of strategic areas like al-Fashir in North Darfur.

The violence has drawn condemnation from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and concern from the United Nations. Sudan’s army-aligned government has accused the United Arab Emirates of supporting the RSF—a charge the UAE denies, despite UN experts considering the allegation credible. The International Court of Justice recently declined to rule in a case brought by Sudan’s government accusing the UAE of fueling genocide.

The conflict, sparked by a power struggle over transitioning to civilian rule, has displaced more than 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger. With both sides now entrenched in divided zones of control, Sudan’s humanitarian emergency continues to deepen.