Sudan: drones hit three substations in two states, blacking out Kassala and Merowe as the toll reaches 16 power stations in a week

Drones struck three substations in two Sudanese states on Monday, November 2, causing widespread power cuts. In the eastern state of Kassala the targets were the New Halfa and Aroma substations, and power went out across the whole state. In Northern State the al-Ghazali substation was hit, about 20 kilometres east of Merowe. Eyewitnesses told Anadolu of a powerful explosion, after which power was cut across Merowe.

Videos on social media showed fires at the two Kassala facilities and Civil Defence crews trying to put out the flames at Aroma. Just on Sunday, November 1, drones had simultaneously hit the Abu Hamad substation in River Nile state and the al-Dabba station in Northern State. River Nile governor Mohamed al-Badawi, after an inspection, said the Abu Hamad station was completely destroyed and that the state was left without power, Asharq Al-Awsat writes.

“Total darkness” if the strikes continue

With the new attacks, the power stations hit by drones within a week come to 16, according to Anadolu, in states such as Khartoum, Gezira, Sennar, Red Sea, Gedaref, Kassala and River Nile, while Al Jazeera speaks of 18 strikes on the grid. The wave began on October 20 with an attack on Tendelti and has spread to 10 of the country’s 18 states, with White Nile and Gedaref counting the most targets. The five Darfur states, controlled by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), have not been hit.

“If power stations continue to be targeted at this rate, the whole country will sink into darkness,” warned former energy minister Adel Ibrahim. In his estimate, of the large stations only three are now effectively working: the Merowe dam, the Atbara station and the Marandzhan station in Wad Madani. Authorities and human-rights groups attribute the attacks to the RSF, which usually does not comment on such accusations. On Sunday the government filed complaints against Ethiopia with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of involvement in the strikes. See our report on the 306 killed in three weeks and the UN investigators’ findings on the RSF support network.

A drone shot down and defections from the RSF

In Kordofan the Sudanese army announced that on Monday evening it shot down an “enemy” drone south of Wad Banda, without saying who was operating it or giving further details. The Chinese-made FH-95 is designed for reconnaissance, surveillance and electronic warfare and can stay airborne for more than 12 hours. Fighting between the army and the RSF continues in all three Kordofan states.

The army also reported that a group of RSF members surrendered to its forces in Damazin, capital of Blue Nile state, and that their leader gave information on the conduct of operations in the area, including on “Ethiopian support” for the RSF. Shortly before, senior RSF commander Siddig Ader had defected. Faced with this wave of defections, the camp of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, set up a new intelligence service to monitor its own generals, headed by a media and communications specialist, Africa Intelligence writes. The war, which broke out in April 2023, has left tens of thousands dead and about 13 million displaced.