Port Sudan, once a sanctuary for thousands fleeing the brutal two-year conflict tearing Sudan apart, has come under heavy drone fire for the third day in a row, officials confirmed on Tuesday. Strikes have targeted key infrastructure, including the city’s airport and a central army base, igniting fears over the safety of displaced civilians and the continuity of humanitarian aid.
Sudanese officials report that one drone hit the civilian section of Port Sudan Airport early Tuesday morning, grounding all flights at the country’s main international point of entry. Fires broke out in multiple buildings following the blast, according to eyewitnesses. This comes just two days after the military section of the airport was attacked in similar strikes, which the army attributes to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Simultaneously, another drone reportedly struck the army’s primary base in the city center. A hotel located nearby was also hit, according to local witnesses. Both the base and the hotel lie in close proximity to the residence of Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who has been embroiled in a bitter power struggle with his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, since April 2023.
A third drone attack ignited a fuel depot near the city’s southern port, sparking a massive blaze visible for miles. The depot sits near densely populated neighborhoods now housing hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the capital, Khartoum. Witnesses in the city’s north reported anti-aircraft fire responding from a military base.
Loud explosions and thick plumes of smoke were observed across the coastal city on Tuesday morning, with one column of smoke rising from the port and another from the fuel depot. The escalation follows Monday’s strike on Sudan’s main fuel depot, which further crippled the nation’s already fragile infrastructure.
The RSF, which has lost significant territory including almost all of Khartoum as of March, has increasingly relied on drone warfare to penetrate army-held zones. Military analysts say the shift in strategy has significantly disrupted the army’s logistics and supply chains. Some of the drones used have been described as “highly advanced,” with the Sudanese army accusing the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF, a charge that has added new geopolitical tension to the conflict.
On Monday, the International Court of Justice dismissed a Sudanese case against the UAE accusing it of complicity in genocide through its support for the RSF. The ruling cited the ICJ’s lack of jurisdiction due to the UAE’s 2005 reservation to the UN Genocide Convention. Sudan’s foreign ministry stated it “respected” the court’s decision.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern on Monday, calling the paramilitary attacks a “worrying development threatening the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations.” Port Sudan currently serves as the primary hub for humanitarian aid entering the country, where famine has already been declared and nearly 25 million people face extreme food insecurity.
Since the war began, tens of thousands have died and over 13 million people have been displaced, making it the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis. The country remains effectively divided, with the army controlling the center, north, and east, while the RSF dominates Darfur and parts of the south with support from local allies.
As Port Sudan reels from yet another wave of violence, the prospects for peace, and survival for millions, grow increasingly bleak.
