Drone strikes hit Sudanese power substations in Kassala and Northern State, causing outages
Drones hit electricity substations in New Halfa and Aroma in Kassala state on Monday 2 November, causing widespread outages. Sudan's government accuses Ethiopia of involvement; Ethiopia has not commented.
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The story, neutrally told
Centre · 1Drones struck electricity substations in the cities of Aroma and New Halfa in Sudan's eastern Kassala state early on Monday 2 November, causing widespread power outages across the state, according to local sources cited by Anadolu. Anadolu AgencyN “Drone attacks targeted two electricity substations in the cities of Aroma and New Halfa in Sudan’s eastern Kassala state early Monday, causing widespread power outages across the state, local sources told Anadolu.” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Left · 1Al Jazeera reported a third strike, on the al-Ghazali substation in Northern State, citing local media. Al JazeeraLC “while the al-Ghazali substation in Sudan’s Northern State was also targeted, according to local media.” Read at Al Jazeera ↗ Mixed · 2Videos on social media showed fires at the New Halfa and Aroma stations, with Civil Defense teams trying to put out the blaze at Aroma. Al Jazeera said it could not immediately verify the footage and reports. Anadolu AgencyN “Videos circulated on social media showed fires at the New Halfa and Aroma stations, while Civil Defense teams were seen trying to extinguish the blaze at the Aroma facility.” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Al JazeeraLC “Al Jazeera was not able to immediately verify the footage and reports.” Read at Al Jazeera ↗
Mixed · 2The outlets give different weekly tallies: Anadolu said the Monday attacks brought to 15 the number of electricity stations targeted by drones in the past week, in states including Khartoum, Gezira, Sennar, Red Sea, Gedaref, Kassala and River Nile, while Al Jazeera put the number of reported strikes on the network at 18. Anadolu AgencyN “The attacks brought to 15 the number of electricity stations targeted by drones across Sudan over the past week” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Al JazeeraLC “brought the number of strikes reported to target Sudan’s electricity network to 18 over the past week.” Read at Al Jazeera ↗ Centre · 1On Sunday, drones had targeted the Abu Hamad substation in River Nile state and the Al-Dabbah substation in Northern state, according to Anadolu. Anadolu AgencyN “On Sunday, drones targeted the Abu Hamad electricity substation in River Nile state and the Al-Dabbah substation in Northern state.” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Centre · 1Sudan's government said on Sunday it had filed complaints against Ethiopia with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, accusing Addis Ababa of involvement in attacks on civilian infrastructure and power stations. Anadolu said there was no immediate comment from Ethiopia. Anadolu AgencyN “There was no immediate comment from Ethiopia.”“the Sudanese government said Sunday that it had filed complaints against Ethiopia with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗
Mixed · 2Al Jazeera said the military government claims Ethiopia is aiding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in carrying out the attacks. Anadolu said Sudanese authorities and rights groups have accused the RSF of targeting civilian infrastructure, while the group generally does not comment and says it works to protect civilians. Al JazeeraLC “Sudan’s military government has claimed that Ethiopia is aiding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)” Read at Al Jazeera ↗ Anadolu AgencyN “The paramilitary group generally does not comment on such accusations and says it works to protect civilians.” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗ Left · 1Separately, the Sudanese army said on Monday that a group of RSF members had surrendered to its forces in Damazin, capital of Blue Nile state. This followed a video, obtained exclusively by Al Jazeera, in which senior RSF commander Siddiq Ander said he had defected. The army said the group's commander gave information on RSF operations in Damazin, including "Ethiopian support". Al JazeeraLC “The Sudanese army also reported on Monday that a group of RSF members had defected by surrendering to its forces in Damazin”“It added that the group’s commander had provided information concerning the management of military operations in Damazin, including “Ethiopian support” for the RSF.” Read at Al Jazeera ↗ Centre · 1The army and RSF have been fighting since April 2023 in a conflict over the integration of the paramilitary group, which has left tens of thousands dead and displaced about 13 million people amid a worsening humanitarian and hunger crisis. Anadolu AgencyN “leaving tens of thousands dead and displacing around 13 million people amid a worsening humanitarian and hunger crisis.” Read at Anadolu Agency ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left1 outlet
- Framing
- Presents the strikes as a 'campaign' against the power system and pairs them with the army's claims of Ethiopian support for the RSF and new RSF defections.
- Emphasis
- Ethiopia's alleged role, the army's defection announcement and Al Jazeera's exclusive video of commander Siddiq Ander; notes footage was unverified.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention the RSF's general denial or its statement that it protects civilians, or Ethiopia's lack of comment.
- Charged language
- “campaign targeting Sudan’s power system”
- For example
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“Drone attacks extend campaign targeting Sudan’s power system” — Al Jazeera
“Sudan’s military government has claimed that Ethiopia is aiding the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF)” — Al Jazeera
Centre1 outlet
- Framing
- Straight incident report on the outages, based on local sources and witnesses, with the Ethiopia complaint and RSF accusations as context.
- Emphasis
- Scale of the campaign (15 stations in a week), locations, fires and the Civil Defense response.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Does not mention the RSF defections or the third Northern State strike reported by Al Jazeera.
- For example
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“At least 15 power stations targeted in drone attacks across Sudan in one week” — Anadolu Agency
Right0 outlets
No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
What every side reports
- Drones hit the New Halfa and Aroma substations in Kassala state early on 2 November, causing widespread outages.
- Videos on social media showed fires at the sites.
- Sudan's government filed complaints against Ethiopia at the UN Security Council and AU Peace and Security Council.
- The army and RSF have fought since April 2023.
Where accounts differ
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Number of power facilities hit in the past week
- Left
- Al Jazeera: 18 reported strikes on the electricity network.
- Centre
- Anadolu: 15 electricity stations.
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Who is responsible
- Left
- Al Jazeera: the military government claims Ethiopia is aiding the RSF; the army says a defector cited Ethiopian support. No independent verification is reported.
- Centre
- Anadolu: authorities and rights groups accuse the RSF; the RSF generally does not comment and says it protects civilians; Ethiopia had not commented.
Rapid Support Forces organisation
Accused by Sudanese authorities and rights groups of targeting civilian infrastructure; it generally does not comment and says it protects civilians. The army says RSF members are defecting.
“The paramilitary group generally does not comment on such accusations and says it works to protect civilians.” — Anadolu Agency
“the development was the latest in increasing defections from the paramilitary group in Blue Nile state.” — Al Jazeera
Sudan place
Sudan's government says Ethiopia is involved in attacks on civilian infrastructure and has complained to the UN Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council.
“accusing Addis Ababa of involvement in attacks on civilian infrastructure and power stations in several Sudanese states.” — Anadolu Agency
Left1 article
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Drone attacks extend campaign targeting Sudan’s power system
Mixed Frames the strikes as a campaign and gives space to army claims of Ethiopian backing and RSF defections, while noting footage is unverified.
Centre1 article
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Drone attacks hit 2 power stations in eastern Sudan, trigger widespread outage
Neutral Factual incident report sourced to local sources and witnesses, with background on accusations and the war.
Right0 articles
No coverage yet.
- 2 Nov 07:38 First Anadolu AgencyN Drone attacks hit 2 power stations in eastern Sudan, trigger widespread outage
- 2 Nov 17:26 +9h 48m Al JazeeraLC Drone attacks extend campaign targeting Sudan’s power system
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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