General Abdel Fatta al-Burhan this month took a brave face in response to the shock bombardment of Port Sudan and vowed to defeat the swift support forces he is responsible for.
“With wards sick eyes from sleeping,” said Burhan, the head of the Sudanese army and the de facto ruler of the country.
His rebellion, according to one resident, may have briefly relieved the population of Sudan’s wartime capital.
But the reality is that the military was caught off guard, a source close to Burhan’s regime said. In a row, the city was fired from Kamikaze drones and military-grade unmanned aerial vehicles, dramatically changing the dynamics of the country’s catastrophic two-year civil war.
The RSF is now proving its ability to fight back from the sky, losing its territory to the Army in the first months of the year, and handing over the abandoned capital Khartoum in late March.
The drones, believed to have come from China and the United Arab Emirates, have been identified by remnants of the battlefield and satellite image defense analysts, and have placed safe locations such as Port Sudan on the country’s east coast, more than 1,200km from established RSF bases within the militia area.
The RSF, commonly known as Hemeti, led by former Deputy Deputy of Burhan, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagallo, has been involved in a power struggle with the Army since his withdrawal in April 2023.
“Whenever the Army starts turning the tide and thinks RSF is in the rear, I have seen the RSF and (the suspected supporter of its prime minister) doubly down,” said Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for Strategy and International Studies and a Sudan expert. “They’re being kicked out of Khartoum, but now they’re opening the whole country.”
The drone attacks have highlighted the way outside actors and foreign weapons have promoted the conflict, killing more than 150,000 people and kicking out more than 12 million people, with both sides committing atrocities.
The SAF enjoyed air superiority at the onset thanks to the Air Force, and appeared to have stole marching with the RSF in UAV deployments, as it had long used Iranian surveillance drones as artillery support.
From June 2024, the SAF received the delivery of the same Turkish Bayraktar TB2 UAV that gave Ethiopian forces the advantages in the country’s recent civil war, according to Wim Zwijnenburg, head of the Dutch peace organization’s humanitarian disarmament project and drone expert.
More recently, a Turkish and Iranian drones deployed, including a Mohajel-6 UAVs, which can carry guided bombs during battles that run around to capture Khartoum, helped harness the Army’s favor, according to analysts.
The RSF has also stepped up drone use and has been impressive in recent months with military and civilian infrastructure deep within SAF-controlled territory, including hydroelectric dams on the Nile River in Malowe. The power plant bombing on Wednesday caused Khartoum and surrounding conditions to be thrown into the darkness.
The paramilitary drone attack on Port Sudan appears to be retaliation from the May 2nd SAF air strike at the airport in Nyara, western Darfur.
Nyara is where satellite images analyzed by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab showcased the RSF, which has built drone capacity, originating from the “Janjaweed” of camels and horses that destroyed Darfur in the early part of the century. This includes more than 12 CH-95 and FH-95 UAVs made in China.
The SAF strike destroyed cargo planes that supply more weapons to the Nyara RSF and killed foreign technical advisers, according to people close to Port Sudan’s authorities and several people monitoring the war.
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Subsequent precision strikes in Port Sudan showed that RSF quickly acquired the skills to run sophisticated UAV technology, or that foreign officials were helping to fly missions, defense analysts said. Given the possibility of long distances for flights beyond the scope of radio commands, they would have needed satellite guidance.
“They have to provide foreign assistance in running these things,” said a Western drone technology expert.
Burhan’s government has accused the United Arab Emirates of providing its support and weapons supply, allegations that Abu Dhabi have denied. But after trading months of accusations and a growing amount of evidence pointing to the involvement of the UAE, Burhan severed diplomatic ties last week and designated the country as a hostile state.
In response, the United Arab Emirates said it did not recognize Port Sudan’s authorities as “the legal government of Sudan.”
Among the targets attacked in Port Sudan were military and naval bases, hotels frequented by foreign visitors, and the only functional civil airport in the country and fuel storage. Power supply to most of the city has been cut off.
“This was a call for awakening for the leaders here, as everyone was busy splitting the cake after conquering Khartoum, so they forgot about the war,” said a person near the authorities.
SAF Officers inspect recently discovered weapon storage sites belonging to Khartoum’s rapid support force ©AP
Not only did it highlight how weak SAF air defense is, but the drone attacks highlighted that paramilitary groups that the US accused of committing genocide continue to procure foreign weapons in violation of the UN arms embargo.
Last week, Amnesty International released a report that Chinese weapons likely re-exported by the UAE were captured at Khartoum after the defeat of the RSF. Amnesty’s analysis of photos from the aftermath of the RSF attack, including Port Sudan, identified a Chinese-made GB50A guide missile and a 155mm AH-4 how shellgun.
The UAE denied these allegations, saying they were “basked” and “basked.” RSF did not respond to requests for comment.
The origins of the drones used by RSF in the Port Sudan attack are still under investigation. UAV expert Zwijnenburg said a drone similar to a model created in the UAE had exhibited the show at the Gulf Coast weapons show.
He also said that the Chinese-made long-range UAV was tracked by the RSF’s hands and that a Chinese GB50 or smaller GB25 guide missile was used to target hotels in Port Sudan.
RSF leader general Mohamed Hamdan Dagallo, commonly known as Hemeti, has been caught up in a power struggle with the SAF since his dropout in April 2023 © Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images
Abdalla Hamdok, former prime minister who led the transitional government that Burhan and Hemeti overthrew, said it was impressive that the RSF was able to acquire such sophisticated technology and could only do so with strong external support.
“There was an air advantage in SAF. This is a huge decline now,” Hamdok told the Financial Times, “There’s no place to call it safe.
The UN has been warning for months of the scale of Sudan’s humanitarian disaster and the looming threat of hunger. Hope that Khartoum’s fall might predict a lull in combat is largely vanishing.
“The Army had informed us that the RSF was on its last leg,” said Ahmed Soliman, African expert at Chatham House. “This is literally the RSF that was fired.”
