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A drone attack launched by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) struck a military airport in the city of Port Sudan on Sunday, according to the Sudanese army.<\/p>\n
It marks the first time RSF attacks have reached the city – the de-facto capital of Sudan’s military-led <\/b>government – since the conflict between the warring factions erupted two years ago.<\/p>\n
Sudanese army spokesperson Nabil Abdullah said the RSF had launched several “suicide drones” at the eastern Red Sea port city, targeting the Osman Digna Air Base, “a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities”.<\/p>\n
He said no injuries had been reported but the attack had caused “limited damage”. The RSF has not commented on the incident.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Sudan plunged into conflict in April 2023 when a vicious power struggle broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF, a powerful paramilitary group, ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.<\/p>\n
At least 150,000 people are estimated to have died in the ensuing civil war, with some 12 million forced to flee their homes. <\/p>\n
The United Nations has described the situation in Sudan as the world’s largest and most devastating humanitarian crisis, with over 30 million people in need of aid and millions facing acute food shortages and famine<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to the attacks on Sunday, Port Sudan had avoided bombardment and was regarded as one of the safest places in the war-ravaged nation.<\/p>\n After the SAF lost control of the capital Khartoum early in the war, Port Sudan became the de facto headquarters for the military-led government helmed by General Abdel Fattah-al Burhan.<\/p>\n UN agencies moved their offices and staff to the coastal city and hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians have fled there during the war. <\/p>\n “We were on the way to the plane when we were quickly evacuated and taken out of the terminal,” a traveller told AFP news agency on Sunday following the strikes.<\/p>\n Video footage on social media, which the BBC has not independently verified, appears to show an explosion and huge plumes of black smoke billowing into the sky.<\/p>\n The airport has been closed and all flights suspended, a government source told AFP news agency.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The two-year conflict has left the nation divided into rival zones.<\/p>\n The RSF, led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – known as Hemedti – controls most of the vast Darfur region in western Sudan, and parts of the south.<\/p>\n The military-backed government controls eastern and northern Sudan, including the key Red Sea city of Port Sudan.<\/p>\n Sunday’s strike is the latest in a string of RSF drone attacks on military and civilian infrastructure in army-held territory. On Saturday, an army source reported a drone attack on Kassala, on Sudan’s eastern border, about 250 miles (400km) from the nearest RSF position.<\/p>\n