The Sudanese government has officially accused Ethiopia of backing a deadly wave of drone assaults. Sudan lodged complaints with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council over the allegations.
Khartoum claims that the Rapid Support Forces, which have been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces since April 2023, are using Ethiopian territory to launch attacks against civilian sites and power stations. Abdul Kareem Al-Almin Ahmed, a Sudanese border affairs specialist, said the allegations have triggered intense internal debates within the military.
Tension on the part of the Sudanese army has reached high levels, Al-Almin told reporters. He added that some voices inside the military and allied forces have demanded that Sudan declare war on Ethiopia. More than 90 percent of power stations in Sudanese cities have been rendered out of service due to drone strikes.
Al-Almin described the weapons as mysterious long-range drones with special flight properties and high destructive power, showing external backing. A detailed report prepared by the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and military intelligence claimed that 70 separate assaults involving 187 one-way attack drones were launched from Ethiopian territory between February and October.
The frequency of the strikes has accelerated, with 28 attacks carried out by 97 drones in October alone. The conflict has displaced 13 million people and left thousands at risk of famine.
A report compiled by the Transitional Sovereignty Council, linked to the de facto Sudanese leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the SAF, stated that drone attacks killed 176 Sudanese soldiers and 484 civilians between February 15 and October 27. The council identified Asosa Airport in western Ethiopia, the Kurmuk-Gizen border area, and the Bahir Dar airbase in Amhara as specific launch sites.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Saturday he was appalled by the use of drones in the war and condemned the catastrophic toll on civilians. A drone attack on displaced families in Wad el-Mahi near the Ethiopian border on October 3 killed 26 women and four children, while another strike in Nyala on October 26 killed at least 21 people and injured 40.
Addis Ababa has denied the claims, instead accusing the Sudanese government of backing rebels linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. The bilateral tensions also involve a long-running dispute over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile River, as downstream nations Sudan and Egypt fear the project threatens their national security.
Badr Hassan Al-Shafei, a professor of African studies and conflict resolution expert, stated that fears of an escalation are preventing an all-out confrontation. Khartoum fears that providing military support to Tigray will lead to an explosion of the situation on its borders and increase displacement in eastern states, Al-Shafei wrote in a study.
A direct military confrontation with Addis Ababa would severely strain an exhausted Sudanese military apparatus still fighting the RSF in the southeast. Al-Almin warned that opening a war front with Ethiopia would confuse the region and leave Sudan fighting on two fronts.
