
Large swathes of army-controlled Sudan have been plunged into darkness following a series of drone strikes targeting power infrastructure by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to SAF-controlled government officials.
The outages began on Monday when attacks on the Merowe Dam, Sudan’s largest power facility, disrupted electricity across the northern state. Compounding the crisis, technical issues spread outages to the River Nile and Red Sea states.
The situation worsened on Saturday after an overnight drone assault on the al-Shouk power station in the east caused blackouts in Gedaref, Kassala, and Sennar states.
These regions represent the majority of areas still under the control of the SAF, which has been locked in a nearly two-year conflict with the RSF.
The RSF, which dominates most of western Sudan, has also seen electricity generation disrupted in its territories due to ongoing clashes.
The blackout-affected zones house millions of internally displaced people, placing additional strain on already overburdened infrastructure and living conditions.
“The attack on the power station has disrupted electricity to critical services, including hospitals, schools, and water facilities, putting civilian lives at grave risk amid dire humanitarian circumstances,” said Emergency Lawyers, a human rights organization.
Sudan’s civil war has displaced over 12 million people, and nearly half the population—24.6 million—require urgent food assistance, according to the latest global hunger monitor report.
In Omdurman, a city within the greater Khartoum area partly controlled by the SAF, residents report bakery closures and a growing dependence on Nile River water as power shortages worsen.
Efforts to restore operations at the Merowe power station are ongoing, but engineers have yet to achieve significant progress, according to sources at the facility.