Investigation launched into drone attack on Sudan’s El Gedaref

Security officers in Sudan’s El Gedaref are probing the drones attack that targeted the offices of the General Intelligence Service (GIS) in El Fao in the west of the state this morning. A third drone was shot down, causing no damage. Three people were injured. The El Gedaref state government has launched an investigation into the attack, while GIS agents searched the house of political activist Jaafar Khidir in connection with the incident.

Abdelwahab Awad, spokesperson for the El Gedaref state government, told Radio Dabanga that GIS agents have begun investigating the drones.

One of the drones fell in the mosque within the security apparatus compound, where the injuries occurred. Awad denied the closure of the town’s market, indicating that while the public were initially in a state of panic, the situation has begun to return to normal in the market gradually, calling on citizens to be cautious.

He confirmed that a third drone was shot down in the El Fao military zone, and caused no casualties.

Security plan

The governor of El Gedaref, Mohamed Mahjoub, condemned the attack, saying that the drones targeted a number of sites “with the intention of disrupting the stability peaceful coexistence” in the state.

In a statement to Sudan News Agency (SUNA) today, Mahjoub announced a major security plan, and to conducting a thorough inspection of the entrances and exits of the state and markets.

Mahjoub, who is also head of the state security committee, directed the popular resistance to form security cells in the various neighbourhoods and localities, and “promote a sense of security among the public by reporting all negative and outlaw phenomena”.

House search

Political activist Jaafar Khidir told Radio Dabanga that security agents surrounded his house in the Deim El Nour neighbourhood in El Gedaref this morning, following the drone attack.

The force asked to search his house as they it received information about his activities. The force did not show a search warrant and he did not ask them to do so. Khidir said he allowed the security officers to search the house. They did not find anything.

The activist assumes that the search was based on a tip-off from affiliates of the dissolved National Congress Party (NCP), established by former dictator Omar Al Bashir, He reiterated his firm stance against the RSF and the NCP and expressed hope for the army’s victory during the current war.

Panic

Bashir El Sadig, director of Lizenfo Organisation, told Radio Dabanga that a state of panic prevailed in the Grand Market of El Gedaref after the drone attack, and people fled the market after hearing the sounds of explosions.

He says that regular Sudanese forces evacuated the main market, summoned soldiers, and declared a state of high alert. Movement of people and vehicles on the main roads decreased significantly, noting that some people began to flee El Gedaref.

El Basha Tebeig, advisor to the commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said in a post on the X platform: “The drone attacks in El Gedaref and Atbara and the defections among army commanders and Islamists are only the result of the calls of the oppressed who are being bombed by the army”.

This article will be updated as further details become available.