Recent developments in Sudan’s protracted conflict have seen Khartoum’s government directly accuse the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of military intervention, alleging the UAE orchestrated a drone attack on Port Sudan, the nation’s war-time administrative hub. This accusation marks a significant escalation in rhetoric from Sudan against the Gulf state.
According to a report by Africanews, Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Al-Harith Idriss, speaking in New York on Monday, asserted that “the operation was launched from a UAE military base with support from Emirati naval vessels in the Red Sea.” Ambassador Idriss further claimed that the drone strike on Port Sudan, which occurred on 4 May, was an act of “revenge for an army attack a day earlier on an alleged Emirati warplane in the RSF-controlled city of Nyala.”
This is the first instance of Sudan directly accusing the UAE of military involvement in its ongoing civil war against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
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These allegations surface after Khartoum recently severed diplomatic ties with the UAE. Sudan had previously accused the UAE of arming and funding rebels, a claim the UAE has consistently denied. The UAE did not immediately comment on the drone attack on Port Sudan.
Port Sudan has reportedly “been hit with a volley of drone strikes” since the beginning of May. These strikes have primarily targeted military facilities and the airport.
In light of these events, the Sudanese government wants the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League to investigate the incident.
The civil war in Sudan, now in its third year, was sparked by differences between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The conflict has displaced more than 13 million people.
