Sudan's army-backed government says drones have been launched into the country from neighbouring Ethiopia, the first such accusation since the civil war pitting the army against a paramilitary force began nearly three years ago.
The army-aligned foreign ministry described "aggressive behaviour that's both rejected and denounced. It constitutes a flagrant violation of Sudan's sovereignty and a blatant aggression on the Sudanese state”.
The statement told Ethiopia that the attack will have "consequences” and that Sudan reserves the right to defend its territory. It said the drones were launched from Ethiopia last month and the start of this, but did not say where they struck or mention material damage or casualties.
The ministry did not identify the attackers, or say why it took authorities in Sudan weeks to make the claim. But the claim coincides with growing signs that areas in south-eastern Sudan near Ethiopia's border could become a stage in the war between the army and the RSF.
There was no immediate reaction from Addis Ababa on Sudan's claim.
Sudan's accusation represents a dramatic shift in relations between its military-backed government and Ethiopia, which had tried in 2024 to mediate – without success – to end the war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was the first foreign leader to meet Sudan's army chief and de facto ruler Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan in July 2024 after he escaped from Khartoum, then controlled by the RSF. The two met in Port Sudan on the Red Sea in eastern Sudan.
The Sudanese claim follows media reports last month that Ethiopia was hosting a training camp for RSF fighters near the Sudan border.
Military sources told The National that concentrations of RSF forces have been detected in the area and that limited clashes between the two foes had taken place in recent days in the areas of Kurmuk and Qaysan near the Ethiopian border.
The Blue Nile region in south-eastern Sudan where the RSF forces have been detected is a strategic region south of the capital Khartoum that could serve as a supply route from Ethiopia if Addis Ababa decides to back the paramilitary.
The area, parts of which are controlled by local rebels, has seen limited clashes between Sudanese and Ethiopian troops before the outbreak of the civil war in April 2023. The violence was triggered by Sudan's attempt to retake a border area whose ownership has been disputed by the two countries for years.
Sudan is also at odds with Ethiopia over a Blue Nile dam Addis Ababa built. It argues that Ethiopia refuses to share data on the operation of the dam so that it could protect its own, smaller, Nile dams and prevent deadly and destructive flooding.
Sudan's civil war, widely seen as a power struggle between Gen Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo, has killed tens of thousands and created the world's worst humanitarian and displacement crises, with some 25 million facing hunger and at least 12 million fleeing their homes to escape the violence.
With the war close to entering its fourth year, the army controls Khartoum as well as the nation's central, northern and eastern regions. The RSF occupies Darfur, a western region roughly the size of France, and parts of neighbouring Kordofan, where most of the fighting has shifted after the army lost its last foothold in Darfur in October.
Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda
