Sudan War · Breaking
Published Monday, 2 November, 12:45 p.m. ET (7:45 p.m. Port Sudan) · Source: Sudan’s army-led government statements, Rio Times reporting
Sudan’s lights are going out one substation at a time, and on Monday three more went dark. Drones hit electricity sites in the east and north of the country, leaving parts of it without power as the army and a rival paramilitary force keep trading blows.
The strikes, reported early on Monday, 2 November 2026, hit New Halfa and Aroma in Kassala state and al-Ghazali in Northern State. They are the latest in a campaign against the grid that is part of the wider Sudan war, now in its fourth year.
Key Facts
- What: Drones hit three Sudanese electricity substations early Monday, causing outages in parts of the country.
- Count: One tally counts 18 reported strikes on the grid in the past week.
- Blame: The army-led government says Ethiopia is aiding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, and complained to the UN.
- Prediction markets: Polymarket, a crypto prediction market, puts a Sudan ceasefire by 31 Dec 2026 at 9.0% (as of 12:43 p.m. ET, 2 Nov).
This story is part of our coverage of the sudan war. Dates, times and how to follow it are in our guide.
In plain English
Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, have been at war since April 2023. Drones, small pilotless aircraft that carry explosives, now hit power stations, so homes, hospitals and water pumps lose electricity. Each strike is cheap to launch and slow to repair.
Three More Substations Go Dark
Videos on social media appeared to show fires at the Monday sites, with civil defence teams trying to put them out. We could not verify the footage, and no clock times for the strikes were given.
One tally counts 18 reported strikes on the electricity network over the past week. We could not confirm that total independently, and the true figure may differ.
Khartoum Blames Ethiopia
Sudan’s army-led government says Ethiopia is helping the RSF carry out the drone attacks. On Sunday, 1 November, it filed complaints against Ethiopia’s government with the UN Security Council, the UN’s top security body, and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, the AU’s crisis body.
None of these accusations has been independently verified. On Monday the army also said a group of RSF fighters had defected by surrendering in Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile state in the south-east.
It linked this to Siddiq Ander, a senior RSF commander who earlier announced his own defection, and said the surrendered fighters gave information on what it called “Ethiopian support” for the RSF. These are the army’s claims, and the RSF has not answered them in the reports we reviewed.
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What Losing Power Does to Daily Life
Hospitals, water pumps and farm irrigation all depend on electricity or diesel, so long outages reach health care and food supply. Parts of Sudan are already in famine, confirmed by UN-backed hunger monitors, so the loss of power adds pressure to a system that is already stretched.
For the wider picture, see our Sudan explainer and in who backs each side.
What Prediction Markets Say
Polymarket, a crypto-based prediction market, prices a Sudan civil war ceasefire by 31 December 2026 at 9.0%, with about US$15,100 traded on this market (about US$119,600 across the event’s four contracts), as of 12:43 p.m. ET (7:43 p.m. Port Sudan, the government’s seat) on 2 November. We found no matching market on Kalshi, the exchange regulated in the US by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for US Readers
For readers in the United States, this is a humanitarian and diplomatic story more than a market one. Attacks on civilian infrastructure make a truce harder to reach and aid delivery harder to run.
The clearest losers are ordinary households that cannot afford generators or diesel.
What Is Not Known
It is not clear how many sites were hit in total, since counts differ by outlet. We also have no information on repairs, on when power will return, or on any action by the UN Security Council or the African Union on the complaints.
Evidence for Ethiopian involvement rests on Sudanese government claims. What would change the picture is independent verification of launch sites, or a ceasefire that includes a pause on attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Sudan’s power network on Monday?
Drones hit three electricity substations in Kassala state and Northern State, causing outages across parts of the country. One tally counts 18 reported strikes on the network in a week.
Who does Sudan’s army-led government blame?
It says Ethiopia is helping the Rapid Support Forces carry out the attacks, and it filed complaints at the UN Security Council and the African Union on Sunday.
Sources: Sudan’s government statements; UN Security Council and African Union Peace and Security Council filings as announced by Khartoum; Polymarket (market page); Rio Times reporting.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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