Last Tuesday, the tranquility of the town was soon interrupted by loud explosions and fires spreading in the town where hundreds of thousands of people had taken refuge.
The city had been mostly untouched and was fairly calm as the Sudanese Civil War erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces, the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), and many other minor factions spread in southwest Sudan.
The attacks began targeting a military base on Sunday, and on Monday, the town’s fuel depots, as well as many other key infrastructures. One of these was a large hotel near the residence of Sudan’s military leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, witnesses said.
It soon became the primary base for the SAF as Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, was mostly controlled by the RSF when the civil war ignited.
Port Sudan soon became the headquarters of many United Nations officials, diplomats, and agencies, making it the headquarters for humanitarian operations around Sudan.
The SAF was quick to blame the attack on the RSF, but the faction has not claimed responsibility for the destructive attack.
The onslaught drew condemnation from the United Nations, Saudi Arabia, and one of Sudan’s neighboring countries, Egypt.
The army-aligned government then accused the United Arab Emirates of funding the Rapid Support Forces, which certain UN experts found credible. The UAE has denied backing the RSF, however, both countries cut ties with each other.
The International Court of Justice declared that the case could not proceed as the United Arab Emirates had opted out of Article 9 of the Genocide Convention, which brings the fact that it cannot be sued by other countries over claims of genocide.
Reem Ketait, the UAE’s deputy assistant minister for political affairs, told BBC News the ruling was “clear and decisive”.
“The international community must focus urgently on ending this devastating war and supporting the Sudanese people, and it must demand that humanitarian aid reaches all those in need,” she added.
The civil war has taken the lives of about 150,000 people, while the number of people displaced an estimated at 12 million, according to the United Nations.
