Port Sudan runs after week of attacks

A huge increase in the water price is only one consequence of a week of air strikes on the Red Sea City Port Sudan.

Once seen as a relatively safe haven of Sudan’s devastating civil war, Port Sudan is now faltering of days of bombing of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

After six days of drone attacks, smoke still rises from three fuel depots that were the target. Rescue teams are collected around the destroyed sites, but they struggle to put the fires out.

The conflict, which started more than two years ago as a struggle between the leaders of the RSF and the army, has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises and forced more than 12 million people from their houses.

One of those who flight to Port Sudan is the 26-year-old Mutasim, who did not want his second name to be published for security reasons.

The BBC spoke with him after he waited hours for a water seller to stand up.

The vital raw material has become scarce. The explosions at the fuel depots have left Port Sudan without the diesel used to provide the pumps that bring the groundwater forward.

Mutasim told the BBC that while a water supply water cost him 2,000 Sudanese pounds ($ 3.30; £ 2.50) a week ago, he is now being charged five times that amount.

It leaves him and the seven other members of his family without much water for cooking, cleaning and bathing.

“We will soon not be able to afford it,” he said, explaining that he will get money from buying and selling basic goods on the market.

Water is not the only challenge in Port Sudan.

Daily life goes back to normal, markets and shops are open, but there are crowds of cars outside the fuel stations of the city while people desperately wait for fuel.

“It can take me five hours to get gas,” said Mutasim.

It is a situation that many Sudanese stands for earlier, but not in this city.

Until last week, Port Sudan was one of the few places in the country that was considered protected against the worst civil war.

“We came here two years ago from Omdurman,” said Mutasim, referring to the city on the other side of the River Capital, Khartoem.

It cost the family their full savings – $ 3,000 (£ 2,250) – to set up in a new place.

“We were forced to leave our house at the RSF, so it was a relief to come here. Life started to get normal again.”

“We thought about moving because it is no longer safe here, but it is so expensive – and where are we going?”

Port Sudan has experienced Black -Outs for the past two weeks, which have been exacerbated by the last attacks.

“My aunt is more than 70 years old, she is struggling with the heat and humidity because there is no electricity for fans at night,” said Mutasim.

“We can’t sleep.”

Hawa Mustafa, a teacher from El-Geneina in Darfur, in the west of the country, also sought refuge in Port Sudan.

She has been living with her four children in a hiding place for displaced persons for more than two years. She said this week’s attacks let her “live in fear”.

“The drones came to us and we returned to a state of war and the lack of safety,” she told the BBC.

“The sounds of the drones and the anti-aircraft missiles remind me of the first days of the war in El-Geneina.”

Hawa lives without her husband, who has not been able to leave their house because of the deteriorating safety situation. She is now responsible for her family.

“I don’t know where to go when it gets worse in Port Sudan. I was planning to go to one of the neighboring countries, but it seems that this dream will no longer come true.”

Another person who lives in the city, Mariam Atta, told the BBC that “life has changed completely”.

“We struggle to cope,” she said. “The fear is constant.”

Since the Sudan civil war started in 2023, humanitarian authorities have been dependent on Port Sudan as a gateway to offer help because of the port and the only functional international airport in the country.

It was used by organizations such as the UN World Food program to offer food aid.

“Port Sudan is our most important humanitarian hub,” says Leni Kinzli, WFP spokesperson for Sudan.

“In March we had nearly 20,000 tons of divided food, and I would say that more than half of it came through Port Sudan,” she told the BBC.

The WFP has said that there is currently famine in 10 regions of the country, with 17 more risk.

Many aid organizations are now ensuring that these attacks can block the flow of help, making the humanitarian situation even worse.

“I think this will seriously limit the delivery of life-saving food and medical supplies, which will run the risk of further deteriorating the already critical situation,” Shashwat Saraf, Land Director of the Norwegian Refugee Council, told the BBC.

He added that although agencies will look for other routes for the country, it will be a challenge.

The city is quiet at night.

Before the attacks, people would gather at the coast and some watched football in local cafés. But the electricity Blackout has left the city in the dark and residents choose to stay at home for safety reasons.