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A drone strike targeted Sudan’s largest naval facility on Wednesday, marking the fourth consecutive day of attacks on Port Sudan —the seat of the army-aligned government—according to a military source who spoke to AFP.
“They (the drones) were met with anti-aircraft missiles,” the source said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
An AFP journalist on the ground reported hearing multiple explosions in the early hours of Wednesday, followed by a plume of smoke rising from the direction of the Flamingo Base, located just north of Port Sudan.
The attack is the latest escalation in Sudan’s brutal conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Sudanese government has described the RSF as a “proxy” force of the United Arab Emirates.
Port Sudan, situated on the Red Sea coast, had until recently been considered one of the few remaining safe zones in the country. It housed hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians, as well as key United Nations offices. That changed on Sunday, when a wave of drone strikes—attributed to the RSF—began targeting the city.
On Tuesday, drone attacks expanded to hit multiple critical sites, including the main seaport, the city’s power station, and Sudan’s last operational international airport.
Roughly 600 kilometres to the south in Kassala, a city under army control near the Eritrean border, “three drones attempted to strike airport facilities,” a security source told AFP on Wednesday. Residents reported hearing blasts from anti-aircraft fire west of the city, which has also faced repeated assaults in recent days.
Since the war began, tens of thousands have been killed and 13 million people displaced. The RSF has yet to publicly acknowledge responsibility for this week’s strikes on Port Sudan, which lies approximately 650 kilometres from the militia’s nearest known positions near Khartoum.
The latest attacks have heightened concerns about the flow of humanitarian assistance in a country already on the brink. Nearly 25 million people are grappling with severe food insecurity, and famine has been declared in some areas.
UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher voiced alarm, saying he was “very concerned by ongoing drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid”.
The UN has described Port Sudan as “a lifeline for humanitarian operations” and warned that continued attacks risk exacerbating what it calls “the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.”
Wednesday’s assault follows a diplomatic rupture between Sudan and the UAE, with Khartoum severing ties a day earlier. Sudan accused the Gulf state of arming the RSF for the Port Sudan offensive and labelled the UAE an “aggressor” state. The UAE has consistently denied these accusations, despite findings from UN experts, international monitors, and U.S. officials.
The drone campaign appears to be a strategic shift for the RSF, which lost control of much of greater Khartoum in March after dominating the capital region since the conflict’s onset.
Sudan is now effectively split: the army holds sway over the centre, north, and east, while the RSF controls nearly all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.
