Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have been aimed at key sites in Port Sudan. AFP
Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have been aimed at key sites in Port Sudan. AFP
Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have been aimed at key sites in Port Sudan. AFP
Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have been aimed at key sites in Port Sudan. AFP

RSF targets naval base in fourth drone attack on Port Sudan in as many days


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Sudan's wartime capital Port Sudan woke up on Wednesday to the sound of explosions for the fourth consecutive day as the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces unleashed another wave of suicide drones on the city, witnesses said.

They said explosions could be heard from several locations in the city on the Red Sea, and also reported seeing fires and hearing anti-aircraft fire. A large black cloud rose into the sky shortly after the attacks, they added.

The main target, the witnesses said, appeared to be the Flamingo naval base, the country's largest that sits just north of Port Sudan, and the port of Suakin to the south.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF. The army would only say its anti-aircraft systems intercepted the drones aimed at the naval base.

Since Sunday, drones launched by the RSF have hit key sites in Port Sudan, including the international airport, an air base, the port, major fuel depots and an army base. They have also hit a power transformer, causing a blackout across the city.

The airport, the only one in Sudan that receives international commercial flights, was closed on Tuesday, but authorities said late in the day that it had been reopened. Khartoum airport has been closed since the war began.

The drone attacks mark a dramatic shift in the two-year war between the RSF and the armed forces. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 13 million, of whom three million have found refuge outside the country.

The aftermath of an RSF strike in Port Sudan on Tuesday. AP
The aftermath of an RSF strike in Port Sudan on Tuesday. AP

The conflict has also created the world's largest humanitarian crisis, with about 26 million people – more than half the population – facing acute hunger as pockets of famine surfaced across much of the vast Afro-Arab nation.

Port Sudan, which lies about 650km east of the capital Khartoum, had been mostly spared the ravages of the war until Sunday, when the first wave of drones struck the city. Also largely untouched by the war is northern Sudan, where drones struck power stations earlier this month.

The attacks on Port Sudan would only make the Sudanese people “stronger, more patient and united”, army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan told the nation in a televised address on Tuesday night.

“I say to those who committed aggression against the Sudanese people that the day of reckoning will come and the people will be victorious at the end,” he said from Port Sudan.

The RSF has yet to claim responsibility for the drone attacks. A statement by the paramilitary on Tuesday night made no mention of them, but said the armed forces and their Islamist allies posed a threat to regional and international stability.

Both Gen Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo profess to be fighting for the restoration of democratic rule and achieving economic prosperity in Africa's third-largest country. However, it is widely believed the two generals are fighting for political dominance.

Port Sudan has been the nation's de facto capital since the RSF overran Khartoum in the early days of the war. It is home to the armed forces leadership, diplomatic missions and UN agencies. It is also home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Sudanese people.

The strikes have raised fears of disruption to humanitarian aid across Sudan.

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said he was "very concerned by the drone strikes on Port Sudan, a hub for our humanitarian operations and key entry point for aid".

Nearly all aid into Sudan flows through the city on the Red Sea coast. The UN has called it "a lifeline for humanitarian operations" and warned of more "human suffering in what is already the world's largest humanitarian crisis".

The drone attacks have been condemned by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two of Gen Al Burhan's main regional backers. The US on Tuesday also condemned them, saying they "represent a dangerous escalation in the Sudan conflict", the State Department said.

The long-distance drone campaign by the RSF followed the paramilitary's loss in March of nearly all of the greater Khartoum area after holding it since the start of the war.

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

Cricket World Cup League 2

UAE squad

Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind

Fixtures

Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest

Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.

Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.

Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.

Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.

Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.

Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia

Updated: May 07, 2025, 11:58 AM`