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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sudan war shatters infrastructure, costly rebuild needed
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Eltayeb Siddig KHARTOUM (Reuters) -Destroyed bridges, blackouts, empty water stations and looted hospitals across Sudan bear witness to the devastating impact on infrastructure from two years of war. Authorities estimate hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of reconstruction would be needed. Yet there is little chance of that in the short-term given continued fighting and drone attacks on power stations, dams and fuel depots. Not to mention a world becoming more averse to foreign aid where the biggest donor, the U.S., has slashed assistance. The Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been battling since April 2023, with tens of thousands of people killed or injured and about 13 million uprooted in what aid groups call the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Residents of the capital Khartoum have to endure weeks-long power outages, unclean water and overcrowded hospitals. Their airport is burnt out with shells of planes on the runway. Most of the main buildings in downtown Khartoum are charred and once-wealthy neighbourhoods are ghost towns with destroyed cars and unexploded shells dotting the streets. "Khartoum is not habitable. The war has destroyed our life and our country and we feel homeless even though the army is back in control," said Tariq Ahmed, 56. He returned briefly to his looted home in the capital before leaving it again, after the army recently pushed the RSF out of Khartoum. One consequence of the infrastructure breakdown can be seen in a rapid cholera outbreak that has claimed 172 deaths out of 2,729 cases over the past week alone mainly in Khartoum. Other parts of central and western Sudan, including the Darfur region, are similarly ravaged by fighting, while the extensive damage in Khartoum, once the centre of service provision, reverberates across the country. Sudanese authorities estimate reconstruction needs at $300 billion for Khartoum and $700 billion for the rest of Sudan. The U.N. is doing its own estimates. Sudan's oil production has more than halved to 24,000 barrels-per-day and its refining capabilities ceased as the main al-Jaili oil refinery sustained $3 billion in damages during battles, Oil and Energy Minister Mohieddine Naeem told Reuters. Without refining capacity, Sudan now exports all its crude and relies on imports, he said. It also struggles to maintain pipelines needed by South Sudan for its own exports. Earlier this month, drones targeted fuel depots and the airport at the country's main port city in an attack Sudan blamed on the UAE. The Gulf country denied the accusations. All of Khartoum's power stations have been destroyed, Naeem said. The national electrical company recently announced a plan to increase supply from Egypt to northern Sudan and said earlier in the year that repeated drone attacks to stations outside Khartoum were stretching its ability to keep the grid going. LOOTED COPPER Government forces re-took Khartoum earlier this year and as people return to houses turned upside down by looters, one distinctive feature has been deep holes drilled into walls and roads to uncover valuable copper wire. On Sudan's Nile Street, once its busiest throughway, there is a ditch about one metre (three feet) deep and 4 km (2.5 miles) long, stripped of wiring and with traces of burning. Khartoum's two main water stations went out of commission early in the war as RSF soldiers looted machinery and used fuel oil to power vehicles, according to Khartoum state spokesperson Altayeb Saadeddine. Those who have remained in Khartoum resort to drinking water from the Nile or long-forgotten wells, exposing them to waterborne illnesses. But there are few hospitals equipped to treat them. "There has been systematic sabotage by militias against hospitals, and most medical equipment has been looted and what remains has been deliberately destroyed," said Health Minister Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim, putting losses to the health system at $11 billion. With two or three million people looking at returning to Khartoum, interventions were needed to avoid further humanitarian emergencies like the cholera outbreak, said United Nations Development Programme resident representative Luca Renda. But continued war and limited budget means a full-scale reconstruction plan is not in the works. "What we can do ... with the capacity we have on the ground, is to look at smaller-scale infrastructure rehabilitation," he said, like solar-power water pumps, hospitals, and schools. In that way, he said, the war may provide an opportunity for decentralising services away from Khartoum, and pursuing greener energy sources. (Additional reporting and writing by Nafisa Eltahir; Editing by Michael Perry and Andrew Cawthorne)
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Families find a new danger in Sudan's battered capital, unexploded shells
By Khalid Abdelaziz and Eltayeb Siddig KHARTOUM (Reuters) -The bespectacled, grey-bearded man ran out of the primary school in Khartoum's Amarat district, shaking with shock. He, like thousands of others, had returned to check on buildings retaken by the army after two years of civil war, only to find a new threat lurking in the rubble of Sudan's capital, in his case an unexploded shell under a pile of old cloth. "I'm terrified. I don't know what to do," Abdelaziz Ali, 62, said outside the school where he used to work as an administrator before the conflict started in April 2023 and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries moved in. "It's around 40 cm (16 inches) long – looks like anti-armor. This is a children's school." Ammunition and missiles litter streets, homes, schools and shops across the city where families have started to return to the buildings that the RSF commandeered. Sudanese and U.N. clearance teams are out checking, trying to make things safe. But they say they need more staff and funds, particularly since the U.S. aid cuts. In Amarat, Ali pointed at other shells on the dirt road between the school and a kindergarten. Several missiles were seen lodged in crushed vehicles. A caretaker from another building said authorities had found and removed ammunition and drones in the basement. But the anti-tank missiles were still there. "We're afraid one explosion could bring the whole place down," he said. More than 100,000 people have returned since the army took back control of Khartoum, and most of central Sudan, in a conflict that started over plans to integrate the military and the RSF. The RSF still holds huge swaths of western Sudan and has switched tactics from ground incursions to drone attacks on infrastructure in army-held areas. 'IT EXPLODED WITHOUT WARNING' Sudan's National Mine Action Centre said more than 12,000 devices have been destroyed over the course of the war. Another 5,000 have been discovered since operations expanded into newly re-taken territory, director Major General Khaled Hamdan said. At least 16 civilians have been reported killed and dozens more wounded in munitions explosions in recent weeks. The real toll is feared to be higher. "We only have five working teams in Khartoum right now," said Jamal al-Bushra, who heads the centre's de-mining efforts in the capital, focusing on key roads, government buildings and medical centres in downtown Khartoum, the site of the heaviest fighting. "We need $90 million just to start proper de-mining and surveying operations," Hamdan said. Crews pick up shells by hand and carefully place them into old suitcases and boxes, or side by side on the back of a pick-up truck, cushioned from the metal sides by a layer of dirt. Volunteer groups have taken up some of the work. "We've dealt with more than ten live shells today alone," said Helow Abdullah, head of one team working in the Umbada neighbourhood of Khartoum's twin city Omdurman. The United Nations Mine Action Programme nearly closed its doors in March after U.S. funding cuts, until Canada stepped in to support it. "We need hundreds of teams. We have just a handful," Sediq Rashid, the programme's head in Sudan, said. Work has also been hampered by problems getting travel permits, he added. "It's very worrying because these areas need to be checked (by) a professional team ... And then (people return)," he said. Rashid said the de-mining teams have barely scratched the surface, particularly in areas outside Khartoum that were also heavily affected. Without the proper sweeps, residents are left to fend for themselves. Sixteen-year-old Muazar lost his left arm and suffered severe wounds when a shell exploded while his family was clearing rubble in their home on Tuti Island where the Blue Nile and the White Nile meet in Khartoum. "It was a 23 mm anti-aircraft round. It exploded without warning. The blast was two metres wide," Muazar's uncle said, standing by the boy's hospital bed in Omdurman.
The Star
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Explosions heard in Port Sudan, army launched anti-aircraft missiles, Reuters witness says
A satellite image shows smoke rising from burning oil tanks in Port Sudan, Sudan May 6, 2025. Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS (Reuters) - Explosions were heard in the Sudanese city of Port Sudan early on Wednesday, a Reuters witness reported, adding that the Sudanese army launched anti-aircraft missiles. Fires and explosions also rocked Port Sudan on Tuesday, part of a days-long drone assault that has torched the country's biggest fuel depots and damaged its main gateway for humanitarian aid. Port Sudan had enjoyed relative calm since the civil war between the army and Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023. The city on the Red Sea coast became the base for the army-aligned government after the RSF swept through much of the capital Khartoum, at the start of the conflict. It was unclear where exactly the explosions took place and there was no immediate comment from the two sides in the conflict. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Enas Alashray; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘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. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Ya Libnan
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Drone strikes pound Port Sudan, putting aid deliveries at risk
A view shows a large plume of smoke rising from fuel depot in Port Sudan, Sudan, May 6, 2025. REUTERS/Khalid Abdelaziz Explosions and fires rocked Sudan's wartime capital Port Sudan on Tuesday, a witness said, part of a days-long drone assault that has torched the country's biggest fuel depots and damaged its primary gateway for humanitarian aid in a major escalation. The strikes included an unmanned aerial vehicle attack by Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Port Sudan facilities, targeting the container terminal, British maritime security firm Ambrey reported. The strikes were the most intense since the attack on Port Sudan began on Sunday, in a conflict in which drones have played an increasing role, helping army's advances earlier this year. Massive columns of black smoke billowed from Sudan's main strategic fuel caches near the port and airport on Tuesday, a witness in the city said, while strikes also hit an electricity substation and a hotel near the presidential residence. The destruction of fuel facilities and damage to the airport and port risk intensifying Sudan's humanitarian crisis, which the U.N. calls the world's worst, by throttling aid deliveries by road and hitting power output and cooking gas supplies. Port Sudan had enjoyed relative calm since the civil war between the army and the RSF suddenly erupted in April 2023. The Red Sea city became the base for the army-aligned government after the RSF swept through much of the capital, Khartoum, at the start of the conflict. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have also sought refuge in the city, where U.N. officials, diplomats, and agencies have set up headquarters, making it the main base for aid operations. Inside Port Sudan, the attack on the electricity substation led to a power outage across the city while army units deployed around public buildings, the witness said. Momentum in the conflict has repeatedly swung back and forth but neither side has looked likely to win outright. The drone strikes on Port Sudan open a new front, targeting the army's main stronghold in eastern Sudan after it drove the RSF back westwards across much of central Sudan, including Khartoum, in March. Military sources have blamed the paramilitary RSF for the attacks on Port Sudan since Sunday, though the group has not yet claimed any responsibility for the strikes. The attacks came after a military source said the army had destroyed an aircraft and weapons depots in the RSF-controlled Nyala airport in Darfur, the main stronghold of the paramilitary group. HUNGER, DISPLACEMENT Sudan's conflict has drawn in regional powers seeking to build influence in a country strategically positioned along much of the Red Sea coast and with borders opening onto North African, Central African and Horn of Africa countries. The attacks have drawn condemnation from neighbouring Egypt and Saudi Arabia, as well as expressions of concern from the United Nations. Sudan's army-aligned government has accused the United Arab Emirates of backing the RSF, accusations that U.N. experts have found credible and continued to investigate . The UAE has denied backing the RSF and the International Court of Justice on Monday said it could not rule in a case in which the government accused the UAE of fueling genocide. The war, triggered by a dispute over a transition to civilian rule, has displaced over 12 million people and pushed half the population into acute hunger , according to the United Nations. As the army pushed the RSF out of most of central Sudan, the paramilitary has made gains in more western and southern areas, while shifting tactics from ground incursions to drone attacks targeting power stations and other facilities deep in army-controlled territory. The army has continued air strikes in the Darfur region, the RSF's stronghold. The two forces continue to fight ground battles for control of al-Fashir, the capital of North Darfur state, and elsewhere as the battle lines in the war harden into distinct zones of control. Who is backing whom in the war The UAE, a US ally, has been accused of arming the RSF, which has raised concerns about the conflict's escalation and the potential for the RSF to become a major force in the region. UAE's support for (RSF) is driven by several factors, including strategic interests, financial ties, and a desire to influence the region's political and economic landscape. The UAE has been accused of arming the RSF, enabling their military operations and facilitating the illicit trade of gold, which funds the RSF's activities. Additionally, the UAE's investments in Sudan's agricultural and mining sectors, combined with its influence on the Sudanese government, suggest a broader strategy to shape Sudan's trajectory. This conflict has drawn in foreign actors, including Russia, the Wagner Group , Iran, and others, who are backing either side of the conflict. Russia, for example, has historically supported the Sudanese government and continues to do so, particularly at the UN Security Council. Additionally, Saudi Arabia, has been accused of supporting the RSF, while others like Egypt have been seen to back the SAF. SAF refers to the Sudanese Armed Forces , the regular military of the country. It is led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan . REUTERS/YL
