Africa — 2026-05-06

Sudan Accuses UAE and Ethiopia of Conducting Drone Strikes on Khartoum Airport

On Monday, RSF drones struck Khartoum International Airport five times and forced a three-day suspension of operations, with Middle East Eye reporting the drones were Chinese CH-family UAVs launched from Ethiopia's Bahir Dar airport. At a midnight press conference, SAF spokesman Brigadier General Asim Awad Abdelwahab and Foreign Minister Mohieddin Salem cited "strong and hard evidence" of Ethiopian and UAE involvement, with Awad pointing to drone serial S-88 as UAE-owned and flown from Bahir Dar during a March 17 strike. Sudan recalled its ambassador from Addis Ababa and announced it would file international complaints, while Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry dismissed the accusations as "baseless" and accused Sudan of arming Tigrayan rebels. The UAE had not publicly responded as of publication.

Analysis
Sudan's identification of drone serial S-88 as UAE-owned and the specific claim of launches from Ethiopia's Bahir Dar airport represent the most granular evidentiary claims Khartoum has made to date in its campaign to internationalize the RSF supply chain. The UAE will likely publicly deny involvement within 14 days. Abu Dhabi has consistently denied Sudan-related military accusations across multiple prior cycles and has institutional capacity for denial that does not vary with evidence quality. The more consequential dynamic is the Ethiopia-Sudan relationship: the ambassador recall and Ethiopia's counter-accusation that Sudan arms Tigrayan rebels risk opening a second axis of proxy conflict alongside the RSF war. The Chinese-made CH-family drone attribution introduces a supply-chain question Beijing would prefer to avoid during the Araghchi visit and Trump summit window.

4 sources

Sudan accuses UAE, Ethiopia of Khartoum airport drone strikes - Africanews
Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks - Al Jazeera
Sudan's Burhan confronts UAE and Ethiopia over Khartoum airport drone strikes - Middle East Eye
Ethiopia rejects Sudan strike claims, accuses Khartoum of backing Tigray rebels - Al-Monitor