Wave of drone strikes hit targets near Sudan capital

A wave of drone strikes hit key infrastructure and military targets near Sudan’s army-held capital on Tuesday (September 9, 2025), witnesses and officials told AFP, bringing to an abrupt end a period of relative calm in the area.

Strikes hit a power station, a weapons factory and an oil refinery near Khartoum, witnesses at the sites said on condition of anonymity, while a military source said an air base had also been targeted.

The assault came months after the military ousted the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from the area in May, a key battleground in the war that erupted in April 2023.

It came as the army-backed government pressed a major reconstruction bid in the Khartoum area, after millions of people fled fighting in the city earlier in the conflict.

The attacks occurred at around 5:00 am (0300 GMT), with witnesses telling AFP by phone, on condition of anonymity, that they had seen strikes hit the Al-Jaili oil refinery, the Al-Markhiyat substation in Omdurman and the Yarmuk weapons factory.

Four drones targeted the power station and sparked a fire, the witnesses said, with images posted on social media appearing to show the site in flames.

A source at the national electricity company told AFP that the damage had been minor. The military source, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike on Wadi Seidna air base had been intercepted.

“Our air defence intercepted and shot down the drones that were targeting the base,” the source told AFP. Another drone strike hit an army building in Kafuri, wounding several troops, another military source said.

The RSF has in recent months been accused of widespread drone attacks in several army-controlled areas of Sudan, striking critical infrastructure and causing blackouts for millions.

No peace in sight

Efforts to mediate between Sudan’s army chief and de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, have failed to yield a sustained ceasefire, with the military vowing to fight until victory.

The army-backed provisional government has launched a vast reconstruction programme in Khartoum, with around 600,000 people displaced earlier in the conflict heading back to their homes, according to the UN.

The war devastated the capital and forced around half of its nine million residents to flee.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and forced around 14 million others to flee their homes, seeking refuge in other parts of the country or beyond its borders.

While Khartoum and the coastal city of Port Sudan have seen a return of relative calm in recent months, the El-Fasher area of Darfur, under paramilitary siege since May 2024, has been subjected to the fiercest attacks since the start of the war.

Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the area in recent months.