KHARTOUM, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on Monday accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of launching drone attacks targeting the Merowe Dam in Sudan's Northern State, which led to a widespread power outage.
"As part of its systematic campaign targeting military sites, vital facilities and the country's development projects, and after the successive defeats inflicted on it by our armed forces on all fronts, the RSF militia targeted the Merowe Dam hydroelectric plant with a number of drones," SAF's 19th Infantry Division said in a statement.
"The ground anti-aircraft weapons repelled the attack," the statement said, noting that the attack resulted in "some damages," without giving further details.
The Merowe Dam, a hydroelectric dam on the Nile River inaugurated in 2009, is located about 350 km north of the Sudanese capital Khartoum, and is one of the largest hydropower projects in Africa.
Video clips on social media showed that a fire broke out at an electricity transmission station that transmits electricity from the dam to the national grid.
According to eyewitnesses, Merowe, Port Sudan, Omdurman, Atbara and Dongola cities have witnessed power outage.
The RSF has not commented yet on the SAF statement.
Sudan has been gripped by a devastating conflict between the SAF and the RSF since mid-April 2023, which claimed at least 29,683 lives and displaced nearly 15 million people, either inside or outside Sudan, according to the latest estimates by international organizations. ■
