New drone attacks in eastern and southern Sudan

New drone attacks targeted areas in eastern and southern Sudan controlled by the army for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, which had been spared by the war until recently, according to military sources who attributed these strikes to paramilitaries.

Several strategic sites in Port Sudan, the temporary seat of the government located on the Red Sea in the east of the country, had already been attacked by drones in recent days.

On Thursday, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been at war with the army for two years, launched "a new drone attack on the Flamingo Naval Base" in Port Sudan, a military source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Explosions were heard throughout the city, reported an AFP correspondent.

Port Sudan, a humanitarian aid hub housing U.N. agencies and hundreds of thousands of displaced people, has been targeted by strikes since Sunday that the army attributes to the RSF using "sophisticated strategic weapons." The Flamingo base had already been attacked by drones on Wednesday, according to this source.

Nearly 1,100 kilometers to the southwest, the RSF targeted the city of Kosti, also controlled by the army, in White Nile state with drones, according to a military source. The paramilitaries targeted "fuel depots supplying the state with three drones, causing fires," said this source. No casualties have been reported, and emergency services were working to contain the fires, she added.

In Port Sudan, the country's main port, strikes on Tuesday damaged strategic infrastructures, including the civilian airport, the last operational in the country, a military base, an electric station, and fuel depots. According to the army, the RSF uses weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi has always denied these accusations, despite reports from UN experts, American political officials, and international organizations.

A military source claimed that "air defense destroyed 15 drones attacking various places in Port Sudan from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning." These attacks raise fears of an interruption of humanitarian aid to Sudan, where famine has already been declared in some regions and nearly 25 million people suffer from severe food insecurity.

"Major escalation"

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed "deep concern."

"This major escalation could lead to large-scale civilian casualties and even greater destruction of critical infrastructure," his spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said. These attacks on "the main entry point for humanitarian aid in Sudan" also threaten to "increase humanitarian needs and further complicate aid operations," he added. He lamented "the lack of political will from the parties to return to the negotiating table."

Since April 2023, Sudan has been ravaged by a war opposing General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, de facto leader of the country since a 2021 coup, and his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdane Daglo, at the head of the RSF. The conflict has caused tens of thousands of deaths and has displaced or forced 13 million people to flee abroad.

It has effectively divided the country in two. The army now controls the center, east, and north of Sudan, while the paramilitaries hold almost the entire vast region of Darfur in the west and parts of the south. However, after losing several positions, including the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF, deprived of aviation, now rely more heavily on drones deployed from their bases in Darfur, about 1,500 kilometers west of Port Sudan.