Sudan has cut diplomatic ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), after repeatedly accusing the Gulf nation of backing the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country's civil war. The announcement comes after the RSF were blamed for three days of attacks on the usually safe city of Port Sudan.

Sudan’s military-backed government formally cut ties with the United Arab Emirates over what it described as “ongoing aggression” in the North African nation’s civil war.

Drone strikes hit a fuel depot, airport and a hotel in Port Sudan, bringing violence to a city that had so far been spared in the devastating civil war.

The strikes are the first on the de-facto capital along the Red Sea. About a quarter of a million refugees have fled to the state where Port Sudan resides since the civil war erupted two years ago.