Dawn strikes on two substations in Kassala state and a third in Northern State on Monday extended a week-long campaign against Sudan's electricity network, a day after the army-led government lodged complaints against Ethiopia with the UN Security Council and the African Union.
Drone strikes at dawn on Monday 2 November hit the Aroma and Halfa El Jadida (New Halfa) electricity distribution stations in Kassala state, local sources told Sudan Tribune, which said both facilities were destroyed and power was cut across the state. The Aroma station is a main transformer site for eastern Sudan's network, supplying water pumping stations, hospitals and health centres. Al Jazeera, citing local media, said the al-Ghazali substation in Northern State was also hit; Sudan Tribune reported a strike on a distribution station in Merowe, near the Merowe Dam. Al Jazeera said it could not verify videos that appeared to show fires at the sites.
A grid under sustained attack
Tallies differ. Al Jazeera counted 18 strikes on the electricity network in a week; Sudan Tribune said more than 17 distribution stations in ten states had been severely damaged. Sudan Independent listed about 15 targeted between 20 October and 1 November and noted that the five Darfur states under Rapid Support Forces (RSF) control had not been hit. It quoted a former energy minister, Adel Ibrahim, as estimating that only three principal stations remain in service: the Merowe Dam, Atbara and Maranjan in Wad Madani.
The army-led government and local media attribute the strikes to the RSF. In the reports reviewed by CERHA, the RSF had not commented on Monday's attacks.
Complaints against Ethiopia
In a statement late on Sunday, the foreign ministry in Port Sudan said it had filed complaints with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing the RSF of using Ethiopian territory to launch drones against civilian sites and power stations, Al Jazeera and AFP reported. According to Radio Dabanga, the ministry cited Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and said it had submitted supporting documents. Ethiopia had not commented by Monday, Anadolu reported; Addis Ababa has previously denied backing the RSF.
Analysts quoted by Radio Dabanga were divided. Qureshi Awad said Port Sudan had not produced enough evidence to prove where the drones were launched and described the complaint as mainly political, aimed at preparing the public for service cuts and deflecting attention from defence failures. Suhaib Hamid called it a significant diplomatic step that could prompt an international investigation.
The air war runs in both directions. The Tasis-led Government of Peace and Unity says an army drone strike on a market in Nyala on 26 October killed 188 people, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres on 31 October condemned the escalating drone attacks across Sudan.
Image: Kassala town centre, with the Taka mountains behind, 2008. Bertramz, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.