Sudan files formal complaints against Ethiopia at United Nations over alleged cross border drone attacks

KHARTOUM — Sudan has lodged formal complaints against Ethiopia with the United Nations Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Council, alleging that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group used Ethiopian territory to orchestrate drone strikes against Sudanese infrastructure and civilians.

According to the Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, armed drones have utilized Ethiopian soil since February 2026 to launch attacks targeting civilian sites and power stations across Sudan. The diplomatic escalation comes amid a devastating civil war between Sudan’s military and the RSF that has persisted since April 2023, deepening regional friction over alleged cross-border support for armed factions. Ethiopia has previously accused the Sudanese military of backing rebels linked to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, an allegation that Khartoum has denied.

In support of the international complaints, a comprehensive report issued by Sudan’s army-led Transitional Sovereignty Council detailed 70 separate assaults involving 187 one-way attack drones between February 15 and October 27. According to the council’s findings, the aerial bombardment resulted in 484 civilian casualties—dead and wounded combined—alongside the deaths of 176 Sudanese soldiers and another 200 military personnel wounded.

The report further pinpointed specific launch locations utilized for the cross-border drone operations, identifying Asosa Airport in western Ethiopia, the Kurmuk-Gizen border area, and the Bahir Dar airbase located in northwestern Ethiopia’s Amhara region. Among the specific incidents documented in the filing is an October 9 attack targeting displaced families in Wad el-Mahi within the Blue Nile region, which left 30 civilians dead—including 26 women and four children—and 100 others wounded. Separately, a heavy market strike in RSF-controlled territory in Darfur resulted in more than 100 fatalities.

International response to the escalating aerial violence followed swiftly. A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated on Saturday that the secretary-general is appalled by the impact of drone strikes in Sudan and strongly condemns the escalating attacks by parties to the conflict, highlighting the catastrophic toll inflicted upon the civilian population.