Explosions have been heard at the Port of Sudan, a critical lifeline and entry point for aid, as attacks on the city continued for a fourth day in the latest confrontation between Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s brutal two-year civil war.
The attacks have been blamed on the RSF by Sudan’s army and by residents.
On Wednesday morning, an army source told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity that the explosion was due to a drone attack that was met with “anti-aircraft missiles”.
The Port of Sudan on the Red Sea coast had been a haven city hosting hundreds of thousands of displaced people since the war began and serves as an interim seat for Sudan’s military-allied government, which has been at war with the RSF since 2023.
The attacks on Port Sudan have increased fears of disruptions to desperately needed aid deliveries in the country suffering one of the world’s most dire humanitarian crises, and where famine has been declared in some areas.
Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through Port Sudan, which the United Nations called on Tuesday “a lifeline for humanitarian operations”, warning of more “human suffering in what is already the world’s largest humanitarian crisis”.
Drone attacks
Attacks on Port Sudan began on Sunday after drone strikes were blamed on the RSF. The latest attacks come after the RSF targeted the airport, the port and the hotel in the city on Tuesday, a military official said. The paramilitary group has not commented on the attacks on Port Sudan.
Sudan’s Information Minister Khalid Aleiser visited the southern part of the port on Tuesday and slammed the United Arab Emirates, whom he accused of arming the RSF. “We will continue our legitimate battle,” he said.
Defence Minister Yassin Ibrahim announced that the government was severing diplomatic ties with the UAE, including withdrawing its ambassador and shutting its embassy in the Gulf country.
“The entire world has witnessed, for more than two years, the crime of aggression against Sudan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and the safety of its citizens by the UAE, acting through its local proxy, the terrorist RSF militia,” Ibrahim said. The UAE has long rejected claims of its support for the RSF and condemned the attack.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dismissed a case on Monday brought by Sudan accusing the UAE of breaching the UN Genocide Convention by arming and funding the rebel paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Sudan’s deadly civil war.
The top United Nations court said it “manifestly lacked” the authority to continue the proceedings and threw out the case.
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