In the reference period covered by the previous EUAA COI Report Sudan – Security Situation (February 2025), the SAF maintained control over Red Sea state, including Port Sudan. Government institutions relocated to Port Sudan in 2023,1252 where they remained under SAF control1253 until their return to Khartoum in 2026.1254 SAF-training camps were also reportedly established in the state.1255 In addition, an armed tribal group from the Beja community, under the lead of Dirar Ahmed Dirar, also known as ‘Shaiba Dirar’, reportedly had its headquarters in Port Sudan.1256
- 1252
SWP, Sudan’s Transition to War and the Limits of the UN’s Good Offices, October 2024, url, p. 25; SWP, Power Relations in Sudan after the Fall of Bashir, 10 May 2024, url, p. 27
- 1253
Bertelsmann Stiftung, BTI 2026 Country Report - Sudan, 2026, url, p. 3; Security Council Report, Sudan, February 2026 Monthly Forecast, 1 February 2026, url
- 1254
Al Jazeera, بعد أكثر من 3 أعوام.. البرهان يستأنف مهامه من القصر الجمهوري بالخرطوم [ After more than three years, Burhan resumes his duties from the Presidential Palace in Khartoum], 14 August 2026, url; AA, Sudan government returns to Khartoum after more than two years of war, 11 January 2026, url
- 1255
UN Human Rights Council, Findings of the investigations conducted by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan into violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and related crimes, committed in the Sudan in the context of the conflict that erupted in mid-April 2023, A/HRC/57/CRP.6, 23 October 2024, url, para. 224
- 1256
MEE, The Sudanese armed leader gaining power in the vital Red Sea region, 2 February 2023, url