Sudan paramilitary drone strikes cause mass power cuts in eastern states

Read the original at The Guardian ↗
Cite

Khartoum, A. F. P. i. (2026, October 26). Sudan paramilitary drone strikes cause mass power cuts in eastern states. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/26/sudan-paramilitary-drone-strikes-rapid-support-forces-power-cuts-eastern-states

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-10-26 · by Agence France-Presse in Khartoum

Quick Summary

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces conducted drone strikes on five power stations in eastern states, resulting in widespread blackouts. The attacks hit two stations each in Al-Jazira and Gedaref, and one in White Nile state, areas under the control of the Sudanese army. This conflict between the RSF and the army has been ongoing since April 2023, with recent drone strikes killing over 300 people and injuring hundreds more according to UN data.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

As of October 26, 2026, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) conducted a coordinated drone strike against five power stations in eastern Sudan, causing widespread blackouts. The attacks targeted two power stations each in the states of Al-Jazira and Gedaref, and one in White Nile state. These regions are controlled by the Sudanese army, which has been at war with RSF since April 2023. Abdelhafez Daafallah, a farmer from Al-Junaid town in Al-Jazira, reported that just three months prior, power was beginning to stabilize and irrigation pumps were ready for operation after repairs, but the recent strike has dashed these hopes. Another resident, Babiker Youssef from Gedaref’s Al-Fao, expressed concern about his diabetic son's insulin medication, which requires refrigeration and could spoil without electricity. The UN warns that such attacks exacerbate Sudan’s ongoing hunger crisis by disrupting essential services for millions of people.

Written for “Sudan Drone Strikes Cause Power Outages” on 2026-10-26, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.40, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 107475: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-26

Story

📰 Sudan Drone Strikes Cause Power Outages
World · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
15
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
7%
1 of 15 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
World
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2471 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Agence France-Presse in Khartoum
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “My son is diabetic, his insulin has to be stored in the fridge,” he said over the phone, adding that he was scared he would not be able to replace the medication if it spoiled. “We have no idea when the power will come back,” he said.
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

Al-Jazira Gedaref RSF Rapid Support Forces Sudan

Subjects

Sudan GPE · 4× Gedaref GPE · 3× RSF ORG · 2× Al-Fao GPE · 1× Al-Jazira GPE · 1× Babiker Youssef PERSON · 1× Rapid Support Forces ORG · 1× Sudanese NORP · 1× The United Nations ORG · 1× White Nile GPE · 1×

Narrative

Abdelhafez Daafallah, a 54-year-old farmer, said over the phone from Al-Jazira’s Al-Junaid town: “The electricity had just started to improve three months ago, the power station the militia had destroyed was just repaired and we had hope our irrigation pumps would finally start running again. “We hoped we would be able to finally get back to farming, but now the station has been hit,” he said, frustrated after nearly four years unable to work his land.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-26
🔮 “My son is diabetic, his insulin has to be stored in the fridge,” he said over the phone, adding that he was scared he would not be able to replace the medication if it spoiled. “We have no idea when the power will come back,” he said.
2026-10-26 · The Guardian
Sudan paramilitary drone strikes cause mass power cuts in eastern states · assertive framing

Claims (15 extracted, 1 hedged)

Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have launched a coordinated drone attack against five power stations, causing mass power outages across the country’s east, a government official said. asserted
official → launch → east
The drones hit two power stations each in the states of Al-Jazira and Gedaref, and one in White Nile state, “resulting in power outages across large parts of these three states”, the official said on condition of anonymity. asserted
official → hit → anonymity
All three states are controlled by the Sudanese army, which has been at war with the RSF, its former ally, since April 2023. asserted
which → control → April
The United Nations has repeatedly warned that regular attacks on power stations threaten health and services for millions of people who are already facing the world’s largest hunger crisis. asserted
who → warn → crisis
Babiker Youssef, a resident of Al-Fao, in Gedaref, said the power had been out there since early morning. asserted
power → say → morning
“My son is diabetic, his insulin has to be stored in the fridge,” he said over the phone, adding that he was scared he would not be able to replace the medication if it spoiled. “We have no idea when the power will come back,” he said. asserted
he → have → idea
Electricity has been cut for days at a time after past paramilitary drone strikes on power stations and hydroelectric dams. asserted
Electricity → cut → stations
Sudan’s war is currently being fought primarily via drones, with both sides launching sophisticated attacks across the country, killing dozens of civilians at a time. asserted
sides → fight → time
In the first three weeks of October, drone strikes killed more than 300 people and injured hundreds more, according to a UN tally. uncertain
strikes → kill → tally
Africa’s third-largest country, home to an estimated 50 million people, has been ravaged by the war, which aid workers estimate has killed more than 200,000 people. asserted
workers → estimate → people
The majority of Sudan’s hospitals have been forced to close, at least 8 million children are out of school and swathes of the country cannot access basic services. asserted
swathes → force → services
Abdelhafez Daafallah, a 54-year-old farmer, said over the phone from Al-Jazira’s Al-Junaid town: “The electricity had just started to improve three months ago, the power station the militia had destroyed was just repaired and we had hope our irrigation pumps would finally start running again. “We hoped we would be able to finally get back to farming, but now the station has been hit,” he said, frustrated after nearly four years unable to work his land. asserted
he → say → land
Farmers in Al-Jazira have struggled to rehabilitate and replant their land since the army recaptured the state from the RSF last year. asserted
army → struggle → RSF
Further east, in Gedaref, Ibrahim Mohammed, 37, a grocer, said he was “already facing power cuts for hours before the strike”. asserted
he → say → strike
“Now I have chicken in the fridge, we either lose our entire stock, or will be forced to sell it off at any price, which is still a loss.” Sudan is also grappling with unprecedented inflation and a currency that lost more than 25% of its value in recent weeks. asserted
that → have → weeks
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