In the reference period, military operations in the state involved mostly drone strikes, causing ‘significant’ material losses.1268 RSF attacks included long-range drone strikes on civilian infrastructure,1269 such as in May 2025 in Port Sudan.1270 Traditional farmer-herder conflicts over limited resources were reportedly common in the state.1271 In June 2026, tribal disputes between Al-Rashaida and Al-Bishariyin arose in the Ar-Ratj market area close to the border with Egypt.1272
Hostilities in the wider Red Sea and Gulf regions reportedly disrupted shipping through Port Sudan – a critical entry point to Sudan for food, medicines, fuel, and humanitarian supplies – and impacted Sudan’s war-economy logistics.1273
- 1268
Abdelrahman, E. E. and STPT, Regional and international dimensions of conflicts in eastern Sudan, 11 August 2025, url, p. 16
- 1269
UN Human Rights Council, Situation of human rights in the Sudan – Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, A/HRC/61/24, 13 January 2026, url, paras. 37, 86
- 1270
OHCHR, Human Rights Situation in the Sudan (1 January to 30 June 2025), 19 September 2025, url, para. 28; Al Jazeera, The drones being used in Sudan: 1,000 attacks since April 2023, 3 February 2026, url; ACAPS, Sudan: Risk of continued drone strikes on Port Sudan, 23 May 2025, url, p. 1
- 1271
Abdelrahman, E. E. and STPT, Regional and international dimensions of conflicts in eastern Sudan, 11 August 2025, url, p. 13
- 1272
Sudan Tribune, Sudan deploys troops to Red Sea state mining hub to defuse tribal tensions, 17 June 2026, url
- 1273
Sudan Human Rights Hub and STPT, Sudan Conflict Monitor # 25: Persian Gulf escalation and its implications for Sudan, 30 March 2026, url, p. 2