Drones hit a transformer station and military sites in Shendi on 30 October, a day after Sudan's largest thermal power plant was put out of service. The army-aligned government says the drones were launched from Ethiopia, which denies any involvement.
Drones struck a transformer power station, a fuel depot and military facilities in Shendi, River Nile State, early on Friday 30 October, Sudan Tribune reported. The outlet attributed the strike to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Shendi locality security committee said the transformer station was "completely out of service" after its transformers were destroyed. It added that a Nile Petroleum reserve fuel depot and an air-defence building were also hit.
Local sources told Sudan Tribune that the attack began at about 02:40, caused a fire and widespread power cuts, and also targeted the army's 3rd Infantry Division headquarters. According to the same sources, army ground defences intercepted some of the drones. These accounts could not be independently verified.
A campaign against the grid
The Shendi strike came a day after a drone attack on Um Dabaker in Rabak, White Nile State, the country's largest thermal power station. That attack damaged four transformers and a processing unit and put the plant out of service. Sudan Tribune counted 11 power and fuel facilities targeted in at least seven states in under two weeks. The Markhiyat station north-west of Omdurman and the El Manaqil station in Gezira were also hit earlier in the week, Radio Tamazuj reported.
Port Sudan points to Ethiopia
At a news conference in Khartoum on 28 October, officials of the army-aligned government displayed drone fragments. They also presented what they described as flight-path data tracing launches to sites inside Ethiopia, including Bahir Dar airport. Radio Tamazuj said it could not independently verify the evidence. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Muawiya Osman Khalid accused Ethiopia and the UAE of enabling the attacks and said Sudan "reserves the right to defend its territory".
Ethiopia has denied the allegations and says it respects Sudan's sovereignty, Anadolu Agency reported. The UAE has consistently denied arming the RSF.
Analysis
Strikes on power infrastructure hurt civilians first: they cut water pumping, hospital supplies and irrigation, whoever carries them out. The army has also intensified drone and air strikes on RSF-held cities such as Nyala in recent weeks. The pattern points to a drone war being fought increasingly on civilian infrastructure, with regional accusations raising the risk of escalation. Independent verification of where the drones are launched from is needed before any cross-border claim can be assessed.
Photo: Bus station in Shendi, River Nile State. Bertramz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.