PORT SUDAN – Paramilitary drones struck army-held areas of eastern and southern Sudan for a fifth straight day yesterday, army sources said, prompting an exodus of civilians from Port Sudan, seat of the army-backed government.
The attacks targeted the country’s main naval base outside Port Sudan, as well as fuel depots in the southern city of Kosti, two sources speaking on condition of anonymity said.
“The militia launched another drone attack on the Flamingo Naval Base north of Port Sudan,” one source told AFP, referring to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), fighting the regular army since April 2023.
Explosions were heard across the city, an AFP correspondent reported. Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been regarded as a safe haven, hosting United Nations offices and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, until drone strikes blamed on the RSF began on Sunday.
The port city is the main entry point for humanitarian aid into Sudan, and UN chief Antonio Guterres warned the attacks “threaten to increase humanitarian needs, and further complicate aid operations in the country”, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Nearly 1 100 kilometres to the southwest, in the army-controlled city of Kosti in White Nile state, RSF drones struck fuel depots, setting off massive fires, a military source said.
“The militia targeted the fuel depots that supply the state, using three drones, causing fires to break out,” the source said.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
More than two years of war have killed tens of thousands of people and uprooted 13 million, according to UN figures.
RSF drone strikes on Port Sudan this week hit key facilities, including the country’s last functioning international airport, its largest working fuel depot, and the city’s main power station.
An army source said air defences had shot down 15 drones over the city overnight.
Many of those who had sought refuge in Port Sudan have been displaced multiple times before, fleeing each time the frontline closed in.
– Nampa/AFP