Smoke rises from the airport of Port sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025.(Photo by AFP)
Port Sudan, Sudan: Sudanese paramilitaries on Sunday struck Port Sudan, the army said, in the first attack on the seat of the army-aligned government in the country's two-year war.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), at war with the regular army since April 2023, have increased their use of drones since losing territory including much of the capital Khartoum in March.
Army spokesman Nabil Abdullah said in a statement that the RSF "targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones".
He reported no casualties but "limited damage" in the city, on Sudan's Red Sea coast.
AFP images showed smoke billowing from the area of the airport in Port Sudan, about 650 kilometres (400 miles) from the nearest known RSF positions on the outskirts of Khartoum.
In the eastern border town of Kassala, some 500 kilometres south of Port Sudan, near Eritrea, witnesses said three drones struck the airport on Sunday for the second day in a row.
An AFP correspondent in Port Sudan said his home, about 20 kilometres from the airport, was shaking as explosions were heard early Sunday.
A passenger told AFP from the airport that "we were on the way to the plane when we were quickly evacuated and taken out of the terminal".
On social media, users shared videos which AFP was not able to immediately verify showing a large explosion followed by a cloud of smoke rising from the blast site.
Flights to and from Port Sudan, the country's main port of entry since the start of the war, were suspended until further notice, a government source told AFP.
