Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – Drones belonging to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have attacked the city of Atbara in northern Sudan, targeting power infrastructure and other sites, according to local media reports. The RSF drones struck a substation in Atbara, the capital of Nile State, causing multiple power outages across the state and in parts of neighboring Red Sea State. Swarms of drones also attacked the Al-Maqran power plant. Sudanese air defense intercepted several unmanned aircraft, but others struck the facility in Atbara, starting a localized fire and damaging the main transformers. Two civil defense workers at the power plant were killed, while the power outages affected Nile State, Red Sea State, and parts of Omdurman, a satellite city of the capital, Khartoum. On December 13, RSF drones attacked the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) base in Kadugli, killing six Bangladeshi peacekeepers.
The war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces, which began in 2023, appears to be ongoing and even threatens to spread to neighboring South Sudan, whose oil exports are handled through Port Sudan. On December 8, the RSF captured the Babanusa and Heglig oil fields in West Kordofan State, bordering South Sudan.
The capture of these two strategically important locations was facilitated by an agreement between the parties that allowed Sudanese soldiers to abandon their positions (the last ones they held in West Kordofan) and escape to safety via South Sudan. In return, the South Sudanese military assumed responsibility for the security of the oil facilities. The RSF, however, remains in the region, and seven South Sudanese soldiers were killed in a Sudanese army drone strike on its positions near Heglig on December 9. The intervention of Juba's military can be explained by the fact that Heglig is not only an important oil field, but also the main hub for transporting South Sudanese oil to Port Sudan. The disruption of the Sudanese oil pipelines threatens to inflict enormous damage on South Sudan's economy, which has already been destabilized by the civil war. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 18/12/2025)
