Attachments
• On 4 May 2025, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a series of drone strikes on Port Sudan, the administrative and humanitarian hub of the country since the beginning of the armed conflict in April 2023 (Reuters 06/05/2025). The aerial attacks with loitering munitions lasted six consecutive days until 9 May, targeting military and civilian infrastructure, including Port Sudan International Airport, a hotel, a fuel depot, Osman Digna airbase, and Flamingo naval base (AJ 13/05/2025; Al Arabiya 11/05/2025; ST 09/05/2025).
• The 6 May attacks set a fuel depot ablaze, causing a massive fire and explosions, and targeted the main power substation, leading to a citywide blackout (AJ 06/05/2025). The Sudan Doctors Network reported 17 civilian casualties in relation to the strikes, including nine from suffocation from fumes originating from the fires (Sudan Doctors Network Facebook 07/05/2025). The strikes also caused panic, leading some families to flee their homes in fear of further attacks (Al-Monitor 06/05/2025; Reuters 04/05/2025). The events displaced at least 550 households from Port Sudan (IOM 14/05/2025). The attacks also disrupted humanitarian operations, including the movement of personnel into and throughout the country, and led to the suspension of UNHAS flights between 4–7 May, constraining the delivery of lifesaving aid (Sudan INGO Forum 06/05/2025; UN 08/05/2025; LogCluster 07/05/2025).
• The drone attacks mark an escalation in the conflict in Sudan, expanding active hostilities into previously stable regions of the country, as this is the first time the city has been targeted since the beginning of the conflict in 2023 (ICG 07/05/2025). The attacks also demonstrate a continuation of the RSF’s drone campaign targeting critical infrastructure to undermine governance abilities and interrupt civilian and military supply chains in territories under the control of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) (ISW 09/05/2025).
• These attacks followed a similar drone attack on Kassala Airport in eastern Sudan on 3 May (ST 04/05/2025). Between October 2024 and March 2025, meanwhile, the RSF launched 50 drone strikes on Merowe Dam, Dongola Airport, and Atbara Airport in SAF-controlled cities in northern Sudan (ISW 09/05/2025).
• Despite the last documented drone attack on Port Sudan being reported on 9 May, renewed attacks remain a possibility. The conflict in Sudan is characterised by rapidly fluctuating dynamics with shifting territorial control, regrouping, and renewed offensives by both parties. The RSF’s active engagement in drone activities in other cities across Sudan seems to raise the likelihood of renewed strikes on Port Sudan, as the recent drone attacks clearly signal a shift in their strategy (BBC 04/05/2025). Port Sudan has strategic significance as an administrative centre and humanitarian logistics hub, which makes it a high-value target for the RSF, potentially prompting repeated attacks.
• Renewed attacks have the potential to expand the conflict-affected territory in eastern Sudan, strain humanitarian capacity, and increase the need for humanitarian assistance across the country. Attacks on the city’s critical infrastructure, such as ports, power plants, and fuel depots, will likely put a strain on humanitarian aid, risk the continuity of operations, and further deteriorate the humanitarian crisis in Sudan (BBC 10/05/2025). Additional drone attacks may increase people’s exposure to protection risks, including civilian casualties and forced displacement. People with the highest needs will likely be the IDPs hosted in Port Sudan, girls and boys, women-headed households, people with disabilities, and older people.