Drone strikes hit Sudan electricity substations as outage campaign widens

Drone strikes have reportedly hit three electricity substations in eastern and northern Sudan, causing widespread power outages in parts of the country. The attacks were reported on Monday and are the latest in a concentrated campaign targeting the national power network. Local media said facilities in New Halfa and Aroma in Kassala state were struck early in the day, while the al-Ghazali substation in Northern State was also hit.

The reported attacks brought the number of strikes on Sudan's electricity network to 18 over the past week. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show fires at the facilities, with civil defence teams trying to extinguish them. The footage and reports could not be immediately verified, but the disruption was described as affecting electricity supplies across several areas.

Sudan's military government said the attacks were part of an ongoing campaign against civilian infrastructure. The government has accused Ethiopia of helping the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in carrying out the strikes. It said on Sunday that it had filed complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council.

The accusations add a regional dimension to a conflict that has already devastated Sudan's infrastructure since fighting between the army and the RSF began in April 2023. The latest strikes also come as the army reported new defections from the RSF in Damazin, in Blue Nile state. The repeated targeting of substations matters because electricity infrastructure is central to hospitals, water systems, communications and basic economic activity.

A sustained campaign against the grid can deepen humanitarian pressure and complicate recovery in areas already affected by war. It also raises the stakes for neighbouring states if Sudan's authorities continue to frame the attacks as having external support. The complaints to international and regional bodies suggest Khartoum is seeking to widen diplomatic pressure alongside its military response.

Sudan's power system has been repeatedly exposed during the war, with civilian infrastructure often caught in the wider conflict. The reported strikes in Kassala and Northern State show that the campaign is not confined to one front line and is affecting both eastern and northern parts of the country. The mention of defections from the RSF in Blue Nile state also points to shifting dynamics inside the paramilitary group, although the scale and significance of those defections remain unclear.

The army's claim that it has information about Ethiopian support has not been independently verified. What remains unclear is who carried out the drone strikes and whether the reported damage has been fully assessed. It is also not clear how long the outages will last or whether further substations will be targeted.

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