Drone attacks paralyse Port Sudan airport
Port Sudan, the current temporary seat of the Sudanese government and the country's main commercial port, was attacked on Tuesday for the third consecutive day by drones attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), amid a growing escalation of the internal conflict that has ravaged the country since April 2023.
According to AFP, a loud explosion was heard in the early hours of the morning, followed by a column of smoke rising from the port. Eyewitnesses reported a detonation in a warehouse, as well as the sound of anti-aircraft fire coming from the north of the city.
One of the attacks hit the civilian section of Port Sudan airport, prompting the immediate cancellation of all scheduled flights. An airport official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a drone had directly hit the infrastructure, forcing the suspension of operations.
Sudanese authorities loyal to the army accused the RSF of being behind this attack, the second in two days. On Monday, another drone struck the city's main fuel depot, causing a fire whose flames and black smoke could be seen from various points in Port Sudan. A second explosion at the warehouse later that day was attributed to the spread of the fire.
These attacks mark the first time the RSF has launched drone strikes on Port Sudan since the start of the conflict with the Sudanese army more than two years ago. So far, no fatalities have been reported in the latest incidents, and the RSF has not issued any official statements.
Port Sudan, located on the Red Sea coast, has become a vital strategic point and a refuge for hundreds of thousands of displaced people. The fuel depots, located about 20 kilometres south of the city, supply vast areas of the north and east of the country under military control. Humanitarian agencies and UN personnel have moved their operations there following the collapse of the capital, Khartoum.
Since the outbreak of conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF in April 2023, more than 13 million people have been displaced, tens of thousands have been killed and hundreds of thousands face catastrophic levels of hunger in what the United Nations describes as the world's largest humanitarian and displacement crisis today.
