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PORT SUDAN: The seat of Sudan’s army-aligned government was without power on Monday, AFP correspondents said, after a drone attack blamed on paramilitaries hit a major hydroelectric dam in the war-torn country’s north.
The Sudanese army, at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, said in a statement that the attack on Merowe Dam was part of a “systematic campaign” against military sites but also targeting “vital” infrastructure.
AFP journalists in Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where the army-aligned government and the United Nations have been based since the war’s early days, said widespread power outages have persisted since early Monday.
The army said that Merowe Dam and its power station, located about 350 kilometers (220 miles) north of the capital Khartoum and serving Port Sudan and other areas, were hit by “a number of suicide drones.”
“Some losses were incurred, which will be repaired,” the army statement said.
Online footage, which AFP could not independently verify, showed fires engulfing the dam’s electrical infrastructure.
The RSF did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
Since the early morning attack, local media said that the army-controlled cities of Atbara, Dongola and Omdurman — across the Nile from Khartoum — have also been hit by power outages.
In November last year, the army accused the RSF of targeting Merowe with 16 drones, though no casualties or significant damage were reported at the time.
The dam is one of Sudan’s biggest sources of hydroelectric power.
Merowe city, in Sudan’s Northern State, is also home to a major military airport.
The latest attack came two days after the army recaptured Wad Madani, the capital of the central state of Al-Jazira, after more than a year of paramilitary control.
In addition to decimating Sudan’s already fragile infrastructure, the war has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, uprooted more than 12 million and pushed many Sudanese to the brink of famine.

JERUSALEM: Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned on Monday that he would not support a deal in Gaza that halts the war, insisting that Israel should "open the gates of hell" on the Palestinian territory.
"The proposed agreement is a catastrophe for Israel's national security," Smotrich said on X. "We will not be part of a surrender deal that involves releasing dangerous terrorists, halting the war, squandering the hard-won achievements paid for in blood, and abandoning many hostages still in captivity.
"Now is the time to intensify our efforts, using all available force to fully secure and cleanse the Gaza Strip," he continued.
"We must take decisive control of humanitarian aid to prevent its exploitation by Hamas, and open the gates of hell on Gaza until Hamas surrenders unconditionally and all hostages are safely returned."
Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition, has repeatedly opposed halting the war in Gaza.
His latest comments come as indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States have resumed for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
On Sunday, Netanyahu briefed outgoing US President Joe Biden on the ongoing negotiations in Doha.
"The prime minister discussed with the American president the progress in the negotiations for the release of our hostages and updated him on the mandate he has given to the negotiating team in Doha, aimed at advancing the release of the hostages," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.
Several previous rounds of negotiations held last year have failed to produce a deal.
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's attack on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
On that day militants also took 251 people hostage, 94 of whom are still held captive in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.
Israel's retaliatory military offensive in Gaza has killed 46,584 people, a majority of them civilians, according to Hamas-run territory's health ministry figures that the United Nations says are reliable.