RSF drone strikes hit Port Sudan airport, seaport, and army base, threatening key aid routes and escalating Sudan’s conflict.

The Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched drone strikes early Tuesday on Port Sudan’s airport and seaport in eastern Sudan, igniting fires and causing loud explosions, according to a correspondent from Anadolu news agency. Another strike targeted the main army base in the city centre, near the residence of army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. Witnesses reported a nearby hotel was also hit. The attacks mark the third consecutive day of strikes on the army-aligned government's seat of power. No official statement has been released by the government.

Following the attack, several flights at Port Sudan airport were delayed or rescheduled. The strikes come just a day after a drone hit the country's main fuel depot, triggering a massive blaze south of the city, which had been a refuge for hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the two-year war.

The RSF has increasingly turned to drone warfare since losing most of Khartoum in March, targeting deep into army-held territory. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the attacks as a “worrying development” that threatens civilian protection and humanitarian operations.

Port Sudan is a critical entry point for nearly all humanitarian aid into Sudan, where famine has been declared and around 25 million people face extreme food insecurity. The conflict, which began in April 2023, has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million, and triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.

The war has divided Sudan between the army, which controls the centre, north, and east, and the RSF, which dominates the west and parts of the south. Experts say the RSF’s drone strategy aims to disrupt army supply lines and showcase its reach. Sudan’s army has accused the United Arab Emirates of supplying the RSF with both makeshift and sophisticated drones.

On Monday, the International Court of Justice dismissed a case Sudan filed against the UAE, which alleged the Gulf nation was complicit in genocide through its support of the RSF.