HighII Cyber Warfare & Critical Infrastructure26 October 2026, Monday · 03:00 TRT (UTC+3)

RSF drones strike five power stations across army-held Sudan

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) hit 5 power stations in the army-held states of Gezira, Gedaref and White Nile in a simultaneous drone attack on the night of 26 October. Power in Gezira has been out since 02:00 local time, and the state grid company says the stability of the national network is at risk.

Location: GEDAREF

A government official who spoke to AFP without being named said the RSF targeted 5 stations in a coordinated drone attack on the night of Monday 26 October. Two of them were in Gezira, two in Gedaref and one in White Nile. The official said power was cut across large parts of the 3 states. AFP's correspondent in Gezira put the start of the outage at 02:00 local time (03:00 TRT), and a resident of El Fao in Gedaref reported the same hour. All 3 states are held by the army, which has been fighting the RSF since April 2023.

The state grid operator Sudan Electricity Holding Company, relayed by The Rio Times, reported serious damage to 5 substations at Sinja, El-Hawata, El Fao, Mashkur and Al-Junaid. It said the outage had spread to 4 states, Sennar among them. The company says those 4 states make up roughly half the territory the army controls; whether Sennar was struck directly could not be verified. The RSF has issued no statement on the attack, and no figures have been published for the number of drones, casualties or repair time.

The strike is part of a drone campaign that accelerated in October. UN counts show drone attacks killed more than 300 people in the first 3 weeks of the month. AFP reports that about 20 million people in the country face extreme hunger, and that the currency has lost more than 25% of its value in recent weeks. In Al-Junaid a 54-year-old farmer described a newly repaired station being hit again, and said he has been unable to plant for about 4 years.

Talay assessment

Bottom line

Five stations hit in a single night show the RSF trying to offset its failure on the front line by collapsing the grid behind the army's lines. The target set takes out irrigation, the cold chain and hospitals at once, which deepens hunger and pressure on the currency. The most likely path is a war of attrition in which repaired plants are struck again.

Likely effects

Food securityNegative1–6 months
Irrigation pumps standing idle in Gezira and Gedaref squeeze local output further in a country where 20 million people face extreme hunger.
Health servicesNegativeWeeks
Insulin, vaccines and operating theatres depend on uninterrupted power; with generator fuel scarce, the length of each outage converts directly into mortality risk.
Sudanese poundNegativeWeeks
The currency, down more than 25% in recent weeks, faces added pressure as demand for fuel and generator imports climbs.

Possibilities, ranked

1
Attrition cycle continues60%
The RSF strikes repaired stations again, and outages across army-held territory persist intermittently for weeks.
Watch: Repair announcements from the grid company and reports of fresh strikes on the same plants
2
Air defence partly works25%
The army builds counter-drone capacity around the stations, and part of the incoming attacks are brought down.
Watch: Army statements reporting drones downed over power stations
3
Strikes on infrastructure pause15%
International mediation produces a limited ceasefire covering civilian infrastructure.
Watch: A mediators' announcement of a civilian infrastructure ceasefire

Probabilities are calibrated judgement based on the sources, not measurement, and are revised as new information arrives. Not investment advice.

Market reaction

Indicators affected

Stations struck▼ 5
States blacked out▼ 3–4

Bottom line

Likely effects

Possibilities, ranked

Sources