
Large parts of Sudan under the control of the army have plunged into darkness after recent drone attacks on major power facilities by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), according to government officials and local residents.
The most severe outages began last Monday, when assaults on Merowe Dam disrupted electricity across Sudan’s northern state and caused a “technical issue” affecting the River Nile and Red Sea states. By Saturday, the problem had spread further, following a late-night strike on the al-Shouk power station in the country’s east, cutting electricity in Gedaref, Kassala, and Sennar, Reuters reported quoting officials and residents.
Local and international observers note that the power shortages could exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis, as many of these areas house large populations of internally displaced people. Human rights advocates, such as the group Emergency Lawyers, warn that depriving hospitals and schools of electricity endangers countless civilian lives. The RSF, which has been engaged in a nearly two-year conflict with Sudan’s army, now controls most of the country’s western regions, where power generation has also collapsed.
Efforts to restore electricity are underway at Merowe Dam and other facilities, but technicians have reportedly made little progress. Meanwhile, residents in areas like Omdurman, partially held by the army, have resorted to using river water and shuttering bakeries because of the outages. With millions displaced nationwide and approximately half the population urgently needing food aid, the deteriorating infrastructure compounds a crisis already deemed catastrophic by humanitarian groups. Officials fear additional strikes could spark further escalations in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.