RSF drones hit key sites near Sudan's army-held capital

Residents report power cut after attack on electricity transformers and oil refinery

An aid centre in northern Khartoum. The war has forced the displacement of more than 13 million people and left half the population – about 25 million – facing hunger. AFP

A wave of drone strikes by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces hit several key sites in the greater Khartoum area on Tuesday, shattering the relative peace that had prevailed there since Sudan's army retook the capital from the RSF six months ago.

The RSF claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was in response to what it called "the criminal targeting" of hospitals and other civilian structures in the regions of Darfur and Kordofan.

"These qualitative operations targeted military and logistical sites that serve the enemy's war effort without harming civilians or their property," said the spokesman for the RSF-backed administration based in Darfur.

The army, locked in a devastating civil war against the RSF since April 2023, made no immediate comment on Tuesday's attack.

It caused a power cut in several parts of the greater Khartoum area, as well as in the Nile province to the north, residents said.

They said drones targeted Al Markhiyat, north of Omdurman – one of three cities that make up greater Khartoum – where several power transformers were destroyed. A fire broke out at the power station housing the transformers.

The drones also attacked Al Jaili oil refinery and Al Yarmouk military industrial complex, they said.

A military source was quoted by AFP as saying an airbase had also been targeted, but air defence systems foiled the attack.

Sudanese civilians queue for humanitarian aid in Khartoum. AFP

Tuesday's attack mirrored a wave of drone assaults in early May on Port Sudan, the temporary seat of the military-backed government on the Red Sea. Those attacks targeted the city's airport, fuel tanks and power stations.

The Khartoum attack also marks a significant escalation in the war and wider use of drones procured by both sides from their regional supporters. It is expected to curtail the return of residents, who had fled the fighting, to their homes in the capital region. At least half of the capital's nine million residents are thought to have fled Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri.

The attack also comes as the army and the RSF are locked in fierce battles for control of El Fasher, the only city in the western Darfur region not held by the RSF. The city has been under RSF siege since May last year but the army has maintained control.

The fighting there is chiefly to blame for a humanitarian crisis inside the city and the outlying region, where famine has been declared.

There is no precise figure on how many people have been killed in the Sudan civil war, but the number is believed to be in the tens of thousands. The war has also forced the displacement of more than 13 million people and left half the population – about 25 million – facing hunger.

Efforts to mediate between Sudan's army chief and de factor ruler Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo have failed to end the fighting, with the military vowing to fight until victory.

Sudan now has two rival administrations, with the military-backed government in Port Sudan controlling the areas held by the army in northern, central and eastern regions.

The RSF has set up its own administration in Darfur, with Nyala as its capital. The paramilitary also controls parts of Kordofan to the south-west.