Deaths and Injuries Recorded Following Heavy RSF Drone Strikes on Northern Sudan Power Facility

By Our Reporter

Early this Thursday Several casualties were reported after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out heavy drone attacks on the northern Sudanese city of Atbara, striking key electricity installations and other locations, according to local reports.

Sources in River Nile State said the drones hit a major power substation in Atbara, the state capital, causing widespread electricity outages across River Nile State and extending into parts of neighboring Red Sea State. Additional reports indicated that the Al-Maqran power station was also targeted in what appeared to be a coordinated drone assault.

Sudanese air defense units managed to intercept a number of the unmanned aircraft. However, several drones reached their targets, igniting a limited fire at the Atbara power facility and disrupting electricity supplies in River Nile State, Red Sea State, and parts of Omdurman.

Two civil defense personnel stationed at the Atbara power facility were killed during the attack, while several main power transformers suffered extensive damage, further worsening the blackout.

Eyewitnesses described the assault as intense, saying the RSF deployed a large number of explosive-laden drones against Atbara, Al-Damer, and other towns, including Atbara Airport. Residents reported loud explosions as anti-aircraft fire was used to counter the incoming drones.

According to local accounts, the drones were launched from areas in the Kordofan region, particularly the town of Bara in North Kordofan, which has been under RSF control for more than two months.

Fighting has intensified across the three Kordofan states—North, West, and South—where weeks of clashes between the Sudanese army and the RSF have forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

Currently, the RSF controls most of Sudan’s western Darfur region, holding all five Darfur states except for some northern areas of North Darfur that remain under army control. The Sudanese army maintains control over much of the remaining states in the south, north, east, and central regions, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people, plunging the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.