File image.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) has accused Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of being behind recent drone strikes, including at Khartoum airport.
The armed forces, which are allied to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey, have been engaged in a power struggle with the paramilitary group, backed by the UAE, for close to three years now.
Military spokesperson Brigadier General Asim Awad Abdelwahab told a news conference on May 5 that Sudan’s government, which has recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia, had obtained evidence of four drone strikes since March 1 originating from neighboring Ethiopia’s Bahir Dar airport.
He claimed that the UAE provided the Turkish-made Bayraktar Akıncı combat drone, which were used to carry out the strikes.
“What Ethiopia and the UAE have done is direct aggression against Sudan and won’t be met with silence,” Abdelwahab said.
Among the evidence shared by the spokesman during the conference was video footage showing an Akıncı getting shot down by the SAF, as well as photos of the drone’s wreckage.
The Akıncı has an operational range of 7,500 kilometers, an endurance of 25 hours and a service ceiling of over 12 kilometers. The drone, which costs around $30 million, was developed to carry out strategic missions, including reconnaissance, surveillance, and precision strikes.
Click to see full-size image. (SUNA)
Click to see full-size image. (SUNA)
On May 2, a drone strike hit Omdurman, Sudan’s second-largest city, killing five people travelling on a civilian bus. A second strike attack the following day in the central Sudan state of Gezira killed relatives of Abu Agla Kaikal, a commander with the SAF-aligned Sudan Shield Forces. The group defected from the RSF.
Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem said that while Khartoum will not initiate attacks against other countries, “whoever attacks us will be met with a response”, stressing that the SAF is ready to “enter into an open confrontation” with Ethiopia “if it becomes necessary”.
Responding, Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and accused Sudan of fomenting unrest by funding rebels in the Tigray region – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).
It added that it had not publicized the alleged violations of its territorial integrity because the two countries share a “historic and enduring bond of friendship”.
The UAE also denied the allegations made by the SAF. An Emirate official told Reuters: : “These fabrications are part of a calculated pattern of deflection – shifting blame to others to evade responsibility for their own actions – and are intended to prolong the war and obstruct a genuine peace process.”
It’s worth noting that the SAF itself has been using Akıncı drones against the RSF for well over a year, and satellite images from last February revealed that drones of this type based at Sharq El Owainat Airport in Egypt has been also backing the armed forces in their fight against the paramilitary group.
The conflict in Sudan is widening, and with no real efforts to bring peace to the country, the fighting between the SAF and the RSF will likely escalate.
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