Paramilitaries launch first attack on Port Sudan

PORT SUDAN, Sudan (AFP) — Sudanese paramilitaries on Sunday struck Port Sudan, the army said, in the first attack on the seat of the army-aligned government in the country’s two-year war.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the regular army since April 2023, have increased their use of drones since losing territory including much of the capital Khartoum in March.

Army spokesperson Nabil Abdullah said in a statement that the RSF “targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones.”

He reported no casualties but “limited damage” in the city, on Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) images showed smoke billowing from the area of the airport in Port Sudan, about 650 kilometers from the nearest known RSF positions on the outskirts of Khartoum.