Drone strike targets Port Sudan naval base: army source

A drone strike targeted Sudan's biggest naval base on Wednesday, an army source told AFP, marking the fourth straight day the seat of the army-backed government has come under attack.

It comes a day after the government severed ties with the United Arab Emirates, which it accuses of supplying the rival paramilitaries with weapons used to attack the army.

Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been a safe haven, hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people and United Nations offices, until Sunday when drone strikes blamed on the RSF began.

Wednesday's drone strikes "were met with anti-aircraft missiles", the source said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Series of explosions

An AFP correspondent reported a series of explosions and then a cloud of smoke coming from the direction of the Flamingo Base, just north of the city.

War has raged since April 2023 between Sudan's regular armed forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the army-backed government has called a "proxy" of the UAE.

Drones struck across Port Sudan on Tuesday, hitting the main port, the city's power station and the country's last functioning civilian international airport.

Nearly 600 kilometres (375 miles) further south, "three drones attempted to strike airport facilities" in the army-held eastern city of Kassala on Wednesday, near the border with Eritrea, a security source said.

Deadly war

Witnesses told AFP they heard explosions from anti-aircraft missiles west of the city, which has also come under repeated attack this week.

Nationwide, the war has killed thousands of people and uprooted 13 million.

It has also effectively split Sudan in two, with the army controlling the centre, north and east, while the RSF holds nearly all of Darfur in the west and parts of the south.

The RSF has not directly commented on this week's attacks on Port Sudan, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) from its nearest known positions on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum.

Disruption to humanitarian aid

The strikes have raised fears of disruption to humanitarian aid across Sudan, where famine has already been declared in some areas and nearly 25 million people are suffering dire food insecurity.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said he was "very concerned by ongoing drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid."

Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through the port city, which the United Nations has called "a lifeline for humanitarian operations."

It has warned of more "human suffering in what is already the world's largest humanitarian crisis."

'Devastating impact on health'

French medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday that its services in the northern River Nile state have been disrupted following drone attacks that targeted a power plant in the state capital Atbara about two weeks ago.

The attacks caused a major power outage that affected the city's water treatment plant, which stopped functioning at full capacity, disrupting access to clean water and risking a surge in waterborne diseases such as cholera, MSF said.

The attacks also scaled down production at the state's oxygen concentration factory, which provides health facilities across River Nile and other neighbouring states with oxygen tanks.

MSF said such attacks on infrastructure "have a devastating impact on the health of the local communities" and harm "an already overburdened health system."

'Crime of aggression'

The drone campaign comes after the RSF in March lost control of nearly all of greater Khartoum.

The army-backed foreign ministry described the attack on Port Sudan as "a full-fledged crime of aggression", which it said was carried out with "strategic drones and advanced weaponry."

Sudan has accused the UAE of supplying the RSF with the weapons it has used to strike Port Sudan.

The UAE has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations.