Drone strikes hit three electricity substations in eastern and northern Sudan on Monday, triggering widespread blackouts and causing extensive damage to the country’s already strained power infrastructure.
The attacks targeted the Aroma and New Halfa substations in Kassala State and a third facility near Merowe in Northern State, according to local sources.
The strikes were attributed to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), although responsibility for the latest attacks has not been independently established.
Witnesses reported explosions and fires at the Aroma and New Halfa facilities early Monday, with significant damage disrupting electricity supplies across large parts of Kassala State.
A separate drone strike targeted the Al-Ghazali electricity substation near Merowe, approximately 20 kilometres east of the city and close to the Merowe Dam, one of Sudan’s largest hydroelectric facilities.
The latest attacks are part of an escalating campaign against Sudan’s electricity infrastructure that has damaged more than a dozen substations across the country in recent days.
Facilities in Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Gedaref, Red Sea, Sennar, White Nile, South Kordofan, River Nile, Northern and Kassala states have reportedly been affected.
The repeated strikes have severely disrupted the national electricity network, leaving numerous cities without power and threatening essential services, including hospitals, water pumping stations and healthcare facilities.
The Aroma substation is particularly important to eastern Sudan’s electricity network, serving as a major transformer facility that receives high-voltage electricity and distributes power to surrounding communities.
Its destruction or prolonged shutdown could further destabilise electricity supplies across the region.
The latest attacks came a day after Sudan’s military-aligned authorities in Port Sudan announced formal complaints against Ethiopia to the United Nations Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council.
Port Sudan authorities accused Addis Ababa of involvement in drone operations targeting electricity installations and civilian infrastructure across Sudan.
The allegations have not been independently verified.
The widening attacks on electricity infrastructure have raised concerns about the stability of Sudan’s remaining power network as the war between the RSF and Sudan’s military continues.
