Sudan's military on Sunday said the eastern, coastal city of Port Sudan, the government's temporary seat of power since the war broke out in 2023, had been attacked by paramilitaries in a drone strike.

Army spokesman Nabil Abdullah said in a statement that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) "targeted Osman Digna Air Base, a goods warehouse and some civilian facilities in the city of Port Sudan with suicide drones."

The spokesman said there had been no casualties but that there had been limited damage.

Large explosions reported earlier

An AFP news agency correspondent reported that explosions in the morning shook his home, about 20 kilometres (12.4 miles) north of the key coastal city's airport.

On social media meanwhile, unverified footage of a large explosion followed by a large plume of smoke was widely shared.

The regular army controls the central, eastern and northern parts, while the RSF maintain a strong presence in the vast western region of Darfur and parts of the south.

In the initial stages of the war, the government moved from Khartoum to Port Sudan making it the de facto capital.

Up until Sunday's attack, Port Sudan had been spared any violence in the two-year conflict, indicating that the RSF has managed to expand the scope and frequency of drone attacks on army-held areas since losing control of other areas, including most of the capital Khartoum.

How Sudan's civil war started

Sudan's civil war erupted two years ago amid the country's bumpy transition to democracy following the 2019 fall of Omar al-Bashir's ironclad rule.

The government troops and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were allies that joined forces to oust the Islamist leader.

The Sudanese Armed Forces under General Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF, headed by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti, initially joined a civilian-led transitional council following the fall of al-Bashir.

But in October 2021, they staged a coup together, derailing Sudan's democratic transition to a civilian government, and Hemedti became Burhan's deputy.

The two generals turned on each other after Hemedti refused to integrate his militia into the national army, triggering the civil war.

Both parties have been accused of committing war crimes and violating international humanitarian law, with tens of thousands dying in the war and more than 12 million displaced in what is believed to be the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

Edited by: Rana Taha