Drones Fly over Port Sudan as New PM Takes Oath
The Sudanese city of Port Sudan, the seat of power for the government, has seen the firing of anti-aircraft missiles in response to drones flying over the city, reported the AFP citing eye witnesses.
This came as the country's new Prime Minister, Kamil Idriss, sworn in before the Chairman of Sudan's Transitional Sovereign Council and the Commander-in-Chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan. Drones over Port Sudan
On Saturday, citizens reported the sighting of drones flying over Port Sudan and hearing anti-aircraft missiles fired after nearly a week-pause in drone strikes. According to one witness, the city's residents heard 'the sound of anti-aircraft missiles north and west of the city and drones flying in the sky.'
Port Sudan, which has become the country's de-facto capital since the eruption of the war between SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has become the target of RSF's drone strikes since early May. RSF Drone Campaign
The RSF targeted Port Sudan with drones for the first time in the war in early May, hitting the city's only functioning airport and the country's main entry point in the last two years. The drone strikes also hit critical infrastructure, including a military ammunition warehouse, fuel depots, and the maritime port. The attacks stopped for about a week before resuming on Saturday.
After losing the capital Khartoum in March, the RSF has adopted a strategy that involves targeting SAF-controlled cities with long-range drone strikes, alongside counteroffensives to recapture territory in Sudan's south. Recapturing Khartoum
In March, the SAF regained control over most parts of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, in a significant victory for the country's army after two years of fighting against the RSF. The civil war, which broke out in April 2023, has split Sudan in two, with the SAF controlling the center, north and east, and the RSF holding almost all of the western Darfur region and parts of the south.
The UN described the war in Sudan as 'the world's most devastating humanitarian and displacement crisis,' killing tens of thousands of people and displacing around 13 million inside Sudan and to neighboring countries.
Two weeks ago, the SAF declared it had successfully forced out the RSF from their final strongholds in Omdurman. 'We affirm that Khartoum state is completely free of rebels,' SAF spokesman, Nabil Abdallah, announced in a statement. New Prime Minister
On Saturday, Sudan's new Prime Minister, Kamil Idriss, took the oath of office before Al-Burhan, reported Sudan News Agency. Idriss was appointed on May 19, 2025, by a constitutional decree.
Idriss will begin consultations to form a new government, as the army has pledged it will not interfere in the Prime Minister's decisions. Moreover, Al-Burhan cancelled the Sovereign Council members' oversight over the ministries, according to Sudan Tribune.
Idriss is a Sudanese politician from Omdurman, who served as director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) from November 1997 to September 2008. He was also the secretary-general of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV).
Furthermore, Al-Burhan appointed two female figures, Salma Abdul Jabbar al-Mubarak and Nawara Abu Muhammad Taher, as members of the Sovereign Council, representing Eastern and Central Sudan.
In February 2025, Al-Burhan said he would form a technocratic wartime government to help 'complete what remains of our military objectives, which is liberating Sudan from these rebels.'
In the light of this, the Sovereign Council Chairman announced in late April the appointment of Dafallah Al-Haj Ali as the country's Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Acting Prime Minister, and Omar Seddik as Sudan's Foreign Minister.
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