🇸🇩 Port Sudan Under Attack as Civil War Escalates
Drone strikes hit civilian infrastructure for third consecutive day, shattering sense of safety in strategic coastal city.
For the third straight day, drone strikes rocked Port Sudan on Tuesday, bringing the brutal Sudanese civil war to a city long considered a refuge for displaced civilians and a logistical hub for humanitarian operations.
The attacks, allegedly carried out by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), targeted critical infrastructure in the Red Sea port city including a fuel depot, the main airport, and the Marina Hotel, where foreign diplomats were believed to be staying. The strikes mark a dramatic escalation in a war that has already claimed an estimated 150,000 lives and displaced nearly 13 million people since it erupted in April 2023.
Columns of black smoke towered above the city skyline as civilians scrambled for safety. Businesses shut their doors and schools remained closed, while residents expressed growing fears that Port Sudan once a sanctuary — could soon become another battlefield.
Government Condemns ‘Criminal and Terrorist’ Acts
Sudan’s Information Minister, Khalid Ali Aleisir, denounced the drone attacks on social media, calling them “criminal and terrorist acts.” In one post, he assured the nation that civil defense forces were responding to the crisis and that the people’s will “remains unbreakable.” A photo accompanying the statement showed Aleisir standing in front of a massive smoke plume.
The RSF has not publicly claimed responsibility for the latest strikes, but their pattern aligns with similar long-range drone attacks attributed to the group in recent days.
Eyewitnesses reported that the Marina Hotel, located near key government offices, was also struck. No casualties have been confirmed as of press time.
Port Sudan: Once Safe, Now in the Crosshairs
Sunday marked the RSF’s first direct assault on Port Sudan since the conflict began. The initial attack targeted an air base and ammunition depot. But as strikes have intensified, civilian sites have increasingly been caught in the crossfire.
“I saw the smoke rising from the fuel depot and I knew then the violence has followed us here,” said Mohamed Ahmed, 40, who fled Khartoum at the onset of the war. “I can’t go through this again. If this continues, I’ll have to send my family away.”
Port Sudan, serving as the Sudanese military’s provisional capital, had been spared the destruction that engulfed Khartoum and other major cities. It also functioned as a lifeline for international aid groups providing famine relief and medical assistance across the war-torn nation.
But the strikes are threatening that role. “The attacks on Port Sudan will not stop now,” said Abdallah Tag Elsir, a shopkeeper who kept his business closed on Tuesday. “I’m afraid, but I won’t leave the city. This is my home.”
Fuel shortages are now a real concern. After the depot was hit, residents rushed to stock up. “People were lining up by sunrise,” one local said. “No one knows what tomorrow will bring.”
Civilians in Fear, Children Kept Home
“I didn’t send my kids to school today,” said Othman Seddig, who lives near the depot. “When I saw neighbors fleeing, I knew it wasn’t safe. This war will not end until foreign countries stop funding it.”
The RSF and Sudanese Armed Forces have both been accused of serious human rights violations. The army, under Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has allegedly used chemical weapons and indiscriminately bombarded civilian areas. The RSF, led by Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has been charged with ethnic cleansing and atrocities against the non-Arab Masalit people.
Minister Aleisir on Tuesday accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying RSF with the drones used in the Port Sudan strikes an allegation the UAE has repeatedly denied. Just a day earlier, the International Court of Justice dismissed a case accusing the Gulf nation of complicity in Sudan’s alleged genocide.
A War with No End in Sight
After regaining key positions in Khartoum in March including the presidential palace and central bank the Sudanese military appeared to regain momentum. But recent RSF attacks suggest the conflict is far from over.
The African Union condemned the drone strikes this week, calling them “a dangerous escalation” that threatens civilians, humanitarian operations, and regional stability.
As Port Sudan reels from new waves of violence, the future for Sudan’s civilians grows ever more uncertain.
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🇸🇩 Port Sudan Under Attack as Civil War Escalates