RSF conducts first drone attack on Port Sudan, army spokesperson says
Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone strike on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, in the first attack to reach the eastern port city.
No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.
The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict, as the eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.
The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.
Port Sudan, home to the country’s primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.
In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, but the RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.
The war, which erupted in April 2023, ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.
Overall deaths are hard to estimate, but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the war.
