‘Sudan is now Ukraine' after unprecedented port drone barrage
A drone barrage against Sudan's main port city and aid hub has struck cargo facilities, blown up fuel storage tanks, and damaged the airport, in a significant escalation of the two-year-long civil war.
Witnesses reported explosions and fires around Port Sudan after waves of drone strikes began at the weekend and intensified overnight.
Sudan's army blamed its Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary rivals for the attack, which analysts said marked a 'shocking' new escalation of the war.
Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, said: 'This is a fundamentally new war. Sudan is now Ukraine. A full-blown drone war on the Red Sea with no corner of Sudan safe from UAE-backed RSF terror attacks.
'No returns, no rebuilding, no reconciliation can possibly occur with drone threats ever-present.'
The war began in April 2023 between rival generals and was triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule - Khalid Abdelaziz/Reuters
Port Sudan, on the coast of the Red Sea, had until now escaped the violence that has engulfed the country and had become the de facto seat of the government after the RSF captured Khartoum at the start of the war.
The port has also become the main entry point for aid agencies trying to stem what has been described as the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
The RSF was recently forced back in central areas including Khartoum, but the new tactic of using long-range drones to hit infrastructure had put all army-controlled territory at risk, said Mr Hudson.
He added: 'The escalation of this war continues completely unchecked and ignored. Shocking.
'RSF drone strikes in Port Sudan on the port, airport, fuel depots, power station and hotel feels like a very strategic target list, to both erode [the] military's tactical needs, impede port usage for humanitarian flows, and even threaten leadership.'
Sudan's military has also been hitting targets in RSF territory.
Port Sudan became the de facto seat of the government after the RSF captured Khartoum at the start of the war - AFP
Sudan accuses the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF, which the UAE strongly denies. The International Court of Justice on Monday said it could not rule in a case in which the government accused the UAE of fuelling genocide.
Ambrey, the British maritime security firm, said the drone attack had targeted Port Sudan's container terminal and left the city without power.
The war began in April 2023 between rival generals and was triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule.
Much of the country of 50 million people has since become a battlefield, as Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's Sudanese armed forces and the RSF militia, led by Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, have fought for territory.
Some 13 million people have since fled their homes, and several of the country's states have been pushed into famine conditions.
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