Drone strikes reportedly hit three electricity substations in eastern and northern Sudan on Monday, November 2, causing widespread power outages across parts of the country. The latest reported attacks brought the number of strikes targeting Sudan’s electricity network over the preceding week to 18, extending a concentrated campaign against the power system.
Local media reported that facilities in New Halfa and Aroma, both in the eastern state of Kassala, were struck early on Monday. A third facility, the al-Ghazali substation in Northern State, was also reported to have been targeted. The reports placed the latest attacks on electricity infrastructure in two separate regions of the country.
Footage shared on social media appeared to show fires burning at the facilities as civil defence teams worked to put them out. Al Jazeera said it could not immediately verify either the videos or the reports of the strikes. The accounts of the attacks and the images circulating online therefore remained unconfirmed by the outlet.
Sudan’s military government has accused Ethiopia of helping the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces carry out the attacks. The Sudanese military and the RSF have been fighting since April 2023. The allegation of Ethiopian involvement comes amid the reported series of strikes against the country’s power network over the past week.
On Sunday, the Sudanese government said it had submitted complaints against Ethiopia to the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council. In those complaints, it accused Addis Ababa of involvement in the continuing campaign against civilian infrastructure and power stations, taking its allegations to both international bodies.
Separately, the Sudanese army said on Monday that a group of RSF members had surrendered to its forces in Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state in southeastern Sudan. That announcement followed a declaration by senior RSF commander Siddiq Ander that he had defected, made in video footage obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera.
The army described the surrender as part of an increase in defections from the RSF in Blue Nile state. Its statement also said the group’s commander had supplied information about how military operations in Damazin were being managed, including what the army described as “Ethiopian support” for the paramilitary force.
