Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched a coordinated drone attack Monday against five power stations, causing mass power outages across the country's east, a government official told AFP.
The drones hit two power stations each in the states of Al-Jazira and Gedaref, and one in White Nile state, "resulting in power outages across large parts of these three states", the official said on condition of anonymity. All three states are controlled by the Sudanese army, which has since April 2023 been at war with its former ally, the RSF.
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that regular attacks on power stations threaten health and services for millions of people, already facing the world's largest hunger crisis.
An AFP correspondent in Al-Jazira state reported the electricity had been out since 2 am.
Babiker Youssef, a resident of Al-Fao in Gedaref, said the power there had also been out since the same time. "My son is diabetic, his insulin has to be stored in the fridge," he told AFP over the phone, scared he would not be able to replace the medication if it spoils.
"We have no idea when the power will come back," he added.
Electricity has been cut for days at a time after past paramilitary drone strikes on power stations and hydroelectric dams, compounding the suffering of nearly 20 million people facing extreme hunger.
'Losing our stock'
Sudan's war is currently being fought primarily via drones, with both sides launching sophisticated attacks from across the country, killing dozens of civilians at a time.
In the first three weeks of October alone, drone strikes killed over 300 people and injured hundreds more, according to a UN tally. Africa's third-largest country, home to an estimated 50 million people, has been ravaged by the war, which aid workers estimate has killed more than 200,000 people.
The majority of Sudan's hospitals have been forced shut, at least eight million children are out of school and swathes of the country cannot access basic services.
"The electricity had just started to improve three months ago, the power station the militia had destroyed was just repaired and we had hope our irrigation pumps would finally start running again," a 54-year-old farmer, Abdelhafez Daafallah, told AFP over the phone from Al-Jazira's Al-Junaid town.
"We hoped we would be able to finally get back to farming, but now the station has been hit," he said, frustrated after nearly four years unable to till his land.
Farmers in Al-Jazira have struggled to rehabilitate and re-plant their land since the army recaptured the state from the RSF last year.
Further east, in Gedaref, grocer Ibrahim Mohammed, 37, said he was "already facing power cuts for hours before the strike". "Now I have chicken in the fridge, we either lose our entire stock, or will be forced to sell it off at any price, which is still a loss."
Sudan is also grappling with unprecedented inflation and a currency in freefall, having lost over 25 percent of its value in recent weeks.