For six straight days, black smoke has hung over Port Sudan. Once a refuge from Sudan’s civil war, the Red Sea city is now gripped by fear, fire—and failing infrastructure.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) launched a relentless wave of drone strikes on the city last week, targeting fuel depots and sending plumes of smoke spiraling into the sky. The damage has devastated daily life: fuel is scarce, water even scarcer, and electricity is nearly nonexistent.
Three major fuel sites lie in ruins. Rescue teams are working around the clock but have struggled to extinguish the fires. Without diesel, the city’s pumps have stopped drawing water from underground reserves, forcing residents to depend on overpriced water vendors—if they show up at all.
Mutasim, a 26-year-old who fled to Port Sudan from Omdurman two years ago, now waits hours for water and longer for fuel. “A week ago, I paid 2,000 Sudanese pounds a day for water,” he told the BBC. “Now it’s five times that. We may not be able to afford it soon.”
His family of eight is rationing every drop—for cooking, cleaning, and survival.
Before the recent strikes, Port Sudan had offered a semblance of peace. Its markets buzzed, nightlife returned, and families like Mutasim’s began to rebuild. But the new wave of attacks has reignited uncertainty and despair.
Petrol queues stretch for hours. Electricity is gone. For many, the heat is unbearable. “My aunt is over 70,” Mutasim says. “She can’t sleep at night—it’s too hot without fans.”
Sudan’s civil war, now entering its third year, has displaced over 12 million people. Once a sanctuary, Port Sudan now finds itself trapped in the same nightmare engulfing the rest of the country. “We used all our savings to move here,” Mutasim said. “Now we’re trapped again—and we don’t know where to go next.”
