KHARTOUM — Five international organisations — the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the League of Arab States, the European Union and the United Nations, acting together as the "Quintet" — have expressed deep concern at a deadly escalation of drone attacks across Sudan and strongly condemned the strikes, in a joint statement dated November 13 that was reported across the region on Sunday, November 15.
Source: IGAD — Joint Quintet Statement on the Escalation of Hostilities in Sudan
The Quintet condemned attacks reported across Khartoum, Darfur, Kordofan, Blue Nile, Gadaref, Gezira, Sennar and Red Sea states. It said the strikes were inflicting further suffering on a civilian population already enduring a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, had caused civilian casualties and had destroyed critical civilian infrastructure, particularly power stations and health facilities, causing widespread power outages and disrupting essential services.
Source: Sudan Now — Quintet Calls for End to External Support Fueling Sudan War
The condemnation follows a concentrated campaign against Sudan's electricity network that this desk has been reporting since late October. Read the earlier story: drone attacks on Sudan's power stations and the blackout crisis
"No military solution" — and an end to outside support
The five organisations reiterated that there is no military solution to Sudan's war and called for an immediate halt to hostilities and to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including an end to the external support that fuels the escalation. The statement did not name any country or actor accused of supplying the warring parties. It stressed that attacks directed against civilians and civilian objects violate international humanitarian law and called for accountability for violations committed during the conflict, and it reaffirmed Sudan's sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity while rejecting the formation of parallel governments and structures.
Source: IGAD — Joint Quintet Statement on the Escalation of Hostilities in Sudan
The Quintet urged regional and international actors to use their influence to support de-escalation, including through the separate Quad mechanism, to secure a humanitarian truce as a step towards a comprehensive ceasefire and a return to an inclusive political process. Representatives of the Quintet are expected to visit Khartoum for direct political consultations with Sudanese stakeholders on a path toward peace and civilian rule, Sudan Now reported.
A power grid cut to about a quarter of its pre-war size
The statement lands in the middle of a sustained campaign against Sudan's electricity system. Between October 20 and November 2 there were at least 18 attacks on electricity infrastructure across at least nine states, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday. Repeated drone attacks on power stations have seen national electricity generation fall from about 4,400 megawatts before the war to about 1,100 megawatts today, according to reporting by The Associated Press cited by Al Jazeera.
Source: Al Jazeera — Drone attacks on power stations plunge Sudan's cities into darkness
Al Jazeera reported that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have intensified attacks on power stations around Khartoum state over the past month, creating an energy crisis in the capital, where blackouts caused by damage to the infrastructure last anywhere from six hours to a full day with no clear schedule. In Port Sudan, laundry owner Osama Omar told Al Jazeera that for nearly a month the supply has become increasingly unreliable, with outages lasting more than 24 hours. Kamal Mohammed, who has diabetes, described struggling to keep his insulin at the required temperature, and Sabri Adam, deputy head of the committee overseeing the al-Karama 3 displacement camp in al-Damazin, capital of Blue Nile state, said the camp's 3,000 residents are struggling to cope.
Source: Al Jazeera — Drone attacks on power stations plunge Sudan's cities into darkness
Political analyst Mohammed al-Husseini told Al Jazeera the RSF stepped up attacks on civilian infrastructure after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) captured strategically important towns in the Kordofan region and other areas in recent weeks. Drone attacks killed more than 160 people in just a few days in western Sudan in October, while hospitals, displacement camps and markets have also become targets, Al Jazeera reported. Neither the SAF nor the RSF had publicly responded to the Quintet statement in the reporting available on Sunday.
Source: Al Jazeera — Drone attacks on power stations plunge Sudan's cities into darkness
The army's westward push in Kordofan, which forms the backdrop to the infrastructure campaign, also advanced this weekend. Read: Sudan's army closes on Al-Nuhud after taking Khamasat and Markab
What happens next
Sudan's war between the SAF and the RSF broke out in April 2023 and has killed tens of thousands of people and forced nearly 13 million to flee their homes, according to UN estimates. The Quintet recalled the earlier decisions and resolutions of its member organisations, which collectively call for an immediate cessation of hostilities, the protection of civilians, unhindered humanitarian access and a return to an inclusive political process. What to watch is whether the planned Quintet visit to Khartoum takes place, whether a humanitarian truce gains support from both warring parties, and whether the attacks on power and health infrastructure — the specific conduct the statement condemns — slow in the coming days.