Sudan has accused Ethiopia of allowing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to launch hundreds of cross-border drone attacks, as strikes on power infrastructure deepen an already severe humanitarian and electricity crisis, while Ethiopia denies involvement.
Sudan’s army-led Transitional Sovereignty Council said on November 1 that it had documented 70 attacks between February 15 and October 27 involving 187 one-way attack drones and 82 munitions launched or dropped from drones, according to Arab News.
It alleged that the drones took off from Ethiopian soil and named Asosa airport, the Kurmuk-Gizen border area, and Bahir Dar air base as alleged launch sites.
The council said the attacks killed or wounded 484 civilians, killed 176 Sudanese soldiers, and wounded another 200. It cited flight-path data reportedly recovered from a drone that crashed in Ad-Damazin, in Blue Nile State, as part of its evidence.
Sudan’s Foreign Ministry filed complaints with the UN Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council, and described the alleged use of Ethiopian territory as a hostile act and a violation of the UN Charter, demanded an immediate halt to the attacks, and called for accountability and compensation.
The accusations came during a week of intensified drone strikes on Sudan’s electricity network. Local reporting said drones hit the Abu Hamad power station in River Nile State and the al-Dabbah station in Northern State on 1 November, causing explosions, fires, and a major outage in al-Dabbah.
Further strikes were reported on November 2 at substations in Aroma and New Halfa in eastern Kassala State, as well as al-Ghazali in Northern State. The attacks reportedly brought the number of strikes on Sudan’s power network to 18 in one week, and caused widespread blackouts and disrupted essential services.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia has denied the accusations, and also rejected claims that it supports the RSF. In turn, it has accused Sudan’s army of backing rebels linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, an allegation Khartoum rejects.
The allegations have heightened fears of a confrontation between the two neighbors at a time when Sudan’s civil war, which began in April 2023, has already displaced millions and devastated civilian infrastructure.
