A former Sudanese energy official warned that attacks on fuel depots in Port Sudan amount to a “war crime” and threaten the country’s already unstable fuel supplies.
Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched drone strikes in Port Sudan, targeting fuel depots in the eastern city early Monday and Tuesday, marking a major escalation in the two-year conflict.
Large plumes of smoke and fire rose from the facility as civil defense teams worked to contain the blaze.
Eng. Hamed Suleiman, former undersecretary of Sudan’s Energy Ministry, told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that one of the attacked depots was among the country’s largest strategic fuel reserves, located near the main port.
He said the facility, along with another known as the old depot, had a combined storage capacity of 22,000 metric tons of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel, cooking gas and airplane fuel.
“It is deeply unfortunate to target the property of the Sudanese people—this is a major loss and a war crime,” Suleiman said.
He revealed that the new strategic depot, which cost about $150 million to build, plays a critical role in speeding up ship unloading and storing imported petroleum products, especially after refineries in Khartoum and El Obeid halted operations due to the war.
“The new depot, which is very strategic, was built to help ensure stable power supply and unloading of ships, so its damage will affect the country’s fuel sector,” he said.
“The level of the damage after the attack remains unclear, but it is a big loss to the country and the people of Sudan,” he added.
Suleiman, an expert in the petroleum field, noted that Sudan now relies entirely on imported fuel for transportation, agriculture, industry and power generation. Any damage to this infrastructure, he said, “is a direct loss to Sudan’s economy.”
While reduced economic activity during the war may lessen the immediate impact, Suleiman warned of long-term consequences for energy supply stability.
He also raised concerns about environmental and health damage from fires caused by the attacks, as well as increased deforestation if people turn to wood as an alternative fuel source.
Meanwhile, Sudan’s Oil and Energy Minister, Mohieddin Naeem Mohamed Saeed, said rebuilding the country’s energy and oil sector would cost more than $5 billion due to damage to oil facilities, power stations and the loss of crude and refined products.
The minister said Sudan lost about 210,000 barrels of crude after the sabotage of a storage facility at the Khartoum refinery, along with other destroyed infrastructure, including gasoline and gas depots filled with petroleum products.
He also reported a decline in oil production, leading to a loss of nearly 7 million barrels of crude that the country could not extract.
The ministry said the attack triggered fires in diesel storage tanks, which quickly spread to neighboring tanks holding large quantities of fuel. He further said civil defense police were working to contain the blaze and prevent a potential disaster in the area.
The war in Sudan between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 13 million people and created the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.
The conflict has split the country in two, with the army controlling the north, east and center, while the RSF dominates nearly all of the western Darfur region and parts of the south.