Aerial attacks involving drones cause a smoky chaos in a coastal urban center of Sudan, according to the Sudanese government.
Chaotic skies over Port Sudan: Sudan's paramilitary unleashes drone attacks early Tuesday, striking key targets including the airport, the port, and a hotel in the Red Sea city. The assault, the second such attack this week, has left no reports of casualties or damage at the time of writing. Local media reports loud explosions and fires at the port and airport, with footage online showing thick smoke rising over the affected areas.
This attack on Port Sudan, also serving as an interim seat for Sudan's military-allied government, demonstrates the ongoing capability of the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to jeopardize each other's territory, even after two years of conflict.
Resident Abdel-Rahman al-Nour awoke to strong explosions and watched fires and plumes of black smoke rise over the port, while local journalist Msha'ashir Ahmed reported fires still burning late Tuesday morning in the southern vicinity of the maritime port. The RSF did not issue any statements regarding the assault. On Sunday, the RSF attacked Port Sudan for the first time in the war, disrupting air traffic at the city's airport, which had been the main entry point for the country over the last two years.
An ammunition warehouse in the Othman Daqna airbase was also hit, igniting a fire that burned for two days. The fighting in Sudan initially focused on the capital, Khartoum, turning it into a war zone, before Port Sudan, about 800 kilometers to the east, became a refuge for the displaced.
These attacks are widely viewed as retaliation following the Sudanese military's striking of Nyala airport in South Darfur earlier this month, which the RSF has since used as a base and received shipments of arms, including drones. The RSF is allied with the United Arab Emirates, implicated by U.N. experts for providing weapons, including drones to the paramilitary. The UAE denies this allegation. Meanwhile, Sudan's military is backed by Egypt.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in Khartoum. Since then, at least 24,000 people have been killed, though the actual number is likely much higher. The war has displaced about 13 million people, including 4 million who sought refuge in neighboring countries, and has pushed parts of the country into famine[2]. The conflict is characterized by atrocities, including mass rapes, ethnically-motivated killings, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in the western Darfur region[2][3].
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- Despite the ceasefire agreement, Sudan's military-allied government faces ongoing challenges with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as the capital, Khartoum, and now Port Sudan serve as battlegrounds continuing war-and-conflicts.
- The preservation of infrastructure, such as airports, ports, and hotels, becomes increasingly difficult under the shadow of the ongoing conflict, impacting the general-news and politics of the region.
- As the RSF expands its influence through crimes like the drone attacks on Port Sudan and alliances with foreign nations like the United Arab Emirates, it raises concerns over the safety and security of pensioners and residents who are caught in the crossfire of political tensions and crime-and-justice issues.
