Drone attacks on key power station in eastern Sudan cause casualties

January 18, 2025 (GEDAREF) – Suicide drones attacked a central power station in eastern Sudan on Saturday, causing casualties and widespread blackouts, witnesses said.

The attack on the Al-Shawak transformer station in Gedaref state is the latest in a series of strikes on critical infrastructure amid the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

This attack follows a similar incident on Jan. 13 when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) used drones to target the Merowe Dam power station in northern Sudan, leading to outages in several states, including parts of the capital, Khartoum.

Witnesses told Sudan Tribune that six suicide drones were used in the attack on the Al-Shawak station, causing power outages in Gedaref and Kassala states. Civil defence personnel who were at the station during the attack sustained injuries.

The attack damaged the power line from the Upper Atbara and Setit Dam, a key source of electricity generating 320 megawatts. Ministry of Energy teams are assessing the extent of the damage.

Witnesses also reported that the drones targeted the Gedaref state water station and that one drone crashed near a bus station on the Gedaref-Kassala-Port Sudan highway, causing panic among travellers.

Gedaref state is currently sheltering hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict, mainly from Sennar and Gezira states.

Activists reported further drone attacks on the Sennar power station, causing a blackout in Sennar state, and Atbara airport, though no damage was reported at the airport.

The RSF previously destroyed and looted electricity transformers in areas they controlled in Sennar state before the army recaptured those areas in late 2024.