Sudan's wartime capital Port Sudan woke up on Wednesday to the sound of explosions for the fourth consecutive day as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces unleashed another wave of suicide drones on the city, witnesses said.
They said explosions could be heard from several locations in the city on the Red Sea, and also reported seeing fires and hearing anti-aircraft fire. A large black cloud rose into the sky shortly after the attacks, they added.
The main target, the witnesses said, appeared to be the Flamingo naval base, the country's largest that sits just north of Port Sudan, and the port of Suakin to the south.
There was no immediate comment from the RSF. The army would only say its anti-aircraft systems intercepted the drones aimed at the naval base.
Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have hit key sites in Port Sudan, including the international airport, an air base, the port, major fuel depots and an army base. They have also hit a power transformer, causing a blackout across the city.
The airport, the only one in Sudan that receives international commercial flights, was closed on Tuesday, but authorities said late in the day that it had been reopened. Khartoum airport has been closed since the war began.
The drone attacks mark a dramatic shift in the two-year war between the RSF and the armed forces. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 13 million, of whom three million have found refuge outside the country.
The conflict has also created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with about 26 million people – more than half the population – facing acute hunger as pockets of famine surfaced across much of the vast Afro-Arab nation.
Port Sudan, which lies about 650km east of the capital Khartoum, had been mostly spared the ravages of the war until Sunday, when the first wave of drones struck the city. Also largely untouched by the war is northern Sudan, where drones struck power stations earlier this month.
The attacks on Port Sudan would only make the Sudanese people “stronger, more patient and united”, army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan told the nation in a televised address on Tuesday night.
“I say to those who committed aggression against the Sudanese people that the day of reckoning will come and the people will be victorious at the end,” he said from Port Sudan.
The RSF has yet to claim responsibility for the drone attacks. A statement by the paramilitary on Tuesday night made no mention of them, but said the armed forces and their Islamist allies posed a threat to regional and international stability.
Both Gen Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo profess to be fighting for the restoration of democratic rule and achieving economic prosperity in Africa's third-largest country. However, it is widely believed the two generals are fighting for political dominance.
Port Sudan has been the nation's de facto capital since the RSF overran Khartoum in the early days of the war. It is home to the armed forces leadership, diplomatic missions and UN agencies. It is also home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Sudanese people.
The strikes have raised fears of disruption to humanitarian aid across Sudan.
UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said he was "very concerned by the drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid".
Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through the city on the Red Sea coast. The UN has called it "a lifeline for humanitarian operations" and warned of more "human suffering in what is already the world's largest humanitarian crisis".
The drone attacks have been condemned by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two of Gen Al Burhan's main regional backers. The US on Tuesday also condemned them, saying they "represent a dangerous escalation in the Sudan conflict", the State Department said.
The long-distance drone campaign by the RSF followed the paramilitary's loss in March of nearly all of the greater Khartoum area after holding it since the start of the war.
