Drone strikes hit Port Sudan airport and military base, flights suspended PHOTO

Drone attacks struck key infrastructure in Port Sudan on May 6, targeting both the city’s airport and a military base, in a major escalation of violence in what had been considered a relative safe haven during Sudan’s ongoing two-year conflict.

According to AFP, the strikes occurred a day after another drone attack set ablaze Sudan’s main fuel depot, located south of Port Sudan, per Caliber.Az.

That incident caused a massive fire and heightened fears for the safety of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people who have sought refuge in the eastern coastal city.

Residents reported powerful explosions at dawn, with plumes of smoke rising from multiple locations. One column of smoke was seen near the port, while another emerged from the area of the southern fuel depot.

An airport official confirmed to AFP that one of the drones had struck the “civilian section of Port Sudan Airport,” just two days after the military base at the same location was attacked by drones for the first time. The Sudanese army has blamed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a powerful paramilitary group, for the drone assaults.

As a result of the attack, all flights at the airport—the country's primary international gateway—have been suspended.

A military source reported that a second drone targeted the main military base in Port Sudan’s city centre. Witnesses said a nearby hotel was also hit in the strike.

A third drone hit the fuel depot situated near the southern port area, in the densely populated central part of the city. This zone now houses many displaced residents as well as personnel from the United Nations and humanitarian organisations who relocated from Khartoum due to ongoing fighting.

Witnesses in the northern part of the city said they saw anti-aircraft fire being launched from the military base in response to the attacks.

Until this week, Port Sudan had been regarded as a sanctuary from the war that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF in 2023. The latest wave of drone strikes marks a worrying expansion of the conflict into previously unaffected areas.

By Tamilla Hasanova