Drone Strikes Ignite Crisis In Port Sudan As Conflict Escalates

 

Port Sudan, long considered a safe haven in Sudan’s brutal civil war, has come under sustained drone attacks this week, setting fires across critical infrastructure and plunging the city into darkness. Witnesses reported powerful explosions and massive smoke columns rising from the port area, where the country’s largest fuel depot was hit, threatening to deepen what the UN already calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Footage showed black smoke choking the skies over the strategic Red Sea city, while Sudan’s national electricity company confirmed that a local power substation was destroyed, triggering a complete blackout. This wave of assaults, which began Sunday, appears to be part of a calculated offensive targeting key infrastructure, including fuel depots, military bases, and even civilian hotels near high-ranking army officials.

Port Sudan had remained relatively untouched since war broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). As the army lost control of the capital Khartoum early in the conflict, Port Sudan became the de facto seat of the army-aligned government. It also emerged as a crucial hub for international aid, hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians and numerous UN agencies and diplomatic missions.

Now, the destruction of the city’s vital fuel infrastructure threatens to paralyze aid operations and disrupt national fuel, electricity, and gas supplies. The port’s facilities are essential not only for humanitarian relief but also for keeping the country's power grid functioning and homes supplied with cooking fuel.

Military officials have blamed the RSF for the drone attacks, though the group has not publicly claimed responsibility. Earlier strikes targeted a military base near Sudan’s only operating international airport, and subsequent attacks hit key fuel facilities and a hotel near the residence of military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

The escalation follows reports that the army struck RSF-controlled weapons stockpiles and aircraft in Nyala, Darfur—an RSF stronghold. With ground battles becoming harder for the RSF after being pushed westward from central Sudan, the group appears to be shifting to aerial assaults as a new tactic in the war.

International reaction has been swift. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations have condemned the attacks. Meanwhile, tensions have risen over Sudan’s repeated accusations that the United Arab Emirates is arming the RSF. UN experts have found these allegations credible, though the UAE continues to deny involvement. On Monday, the International Court of Justice declined to rule in a case brought by Sudan accusing the UAE of enabling genocide.

Sudan’s civil war, which began over a failed transition to civilian rule, has displaced over 12 million people and left half the population facing acute hunger. The conflict has hardened into entrenched zones of control, with the army and RSF now engaging in protracted battles in Darfur’s capital, al-Fashir, and elsewhere.

With the fight now reaching Port Sudan, the last bastion of stability and humanitarian relief may be slipping into chaos.