RSF Drone Strike Hits Port Sudan Military Base in Escalation of Civil War.

By Caroline Ameh

A drone attack launched by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck a key military airport in Port Sudan on Sunday, marking the first assault on the city since the onset of Sudan’s brutal two-year civil war, the army confirmed.

According to Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson Brigadier Nabil Abdullah, multiple “suicide drones” targeted the Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse, and nearby civilian facilities. He reported no casualties but said the strikes caused “limited damage.”

The RSF has not issued any comment on the attack. The strike represents a significant escalation in the conflict, as Port Sudan, located on Sudan’s eastern Red Sea coast, had previously been spared from direct attacks. Since the SAF lost control of Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan has served as the de facto capital of the military-led government under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

UN agencies, embassies, and tens of thousands of internally displaced civilians relocated to Port Sudan in search of safety. Sunday’s drone strikes forced a temporary evacuation of the city’s airport, and all flights have since been suspended, according to government sources cited by AFP.

A traveller caught in the incident told AFP, “We were on the way to the plane when we were quickly evacuated and taken out of the terminal.”

Unverified footage on social media shows thick black smoke rising from the site, adding to fears that the city’s relative safety may no longer hold.

Sudan plunged into chaos in April 2023 after a power struggle erupted between General al-Burhan’s SAF and the RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti. The conflict, originally rooted in disagreements over a transition to civilian rule, has since evolved into a full-blown civil war.

More than 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed, with over 12 million displaced. The United Nations describes the crisis as the world’s largest humanitarian emergency, with over 30 million people in need of aid.

The RSF currently controls large portions of western and southern Sudan, including most of Darfur, while the SAF holds the east and north, including Port Sudan. Sunday’s strike follows another RSF drone attack reported a day earlier in Kassala, 400km from known RSF positions.

Despite recent SAF gains, including the symbolic recapture of Khartoum’s presidential palace in March, analysts warn that a decisive military victory remains unlikely for either side. According to the International Crisis Group, the war is expected to continue, further entrenching divisions and endangering millions.

Meanwhile, in South Sudan, fresh violence claimed at least seven lives in an aerial bombing on Saturday, which struck a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) hospital and local market in Old Fangak, Fangak County. The medical charity condemned the attack, which destroyed the area’s last functioning hospital and pharmacy, amid growing concerns over regional spillover and instability.