Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · May 05, 2026 · 602 words · By Al Jazeera Staff

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What to know about Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks

Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks Sudan claims it has evidence that four drone attacks have been launched from Ethiopia with UAE-supplied drones.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center67%

Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks Sudan claims it has evidence that four drone attacks have been launched from Ethiopia with UAE-supplied drones.

Why it matters

Sudan has accused Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of playing a role in the recent drone attacks on the country, warning that the aggression will not be “met with silence”.

Common ground

On Tuesday, the Sudanese government recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia, accusing Addis Ababa and the UAE of being behind an attack on Khartoum International Airport that forced authorities to suspend operations for three days.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Sudan accuses Ethiopia, UAE of being behind recent drone attacks?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that an attack on Khartoum International Airport that forced authorities to suspend operations for three days?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/5/sudan-accuses-ethiopia-uae-of-being-behi…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4

verified Verified By Reference 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

cancel Disputed 1

schedule Pending 1

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Claim 1: “an attack on Khartoum International Airport that forced authorities to suspend operations for three days”

DISPUTED

While evidence confirms drone attacks on the airport (Reuters) and a long-term occupation by the RSF (Wikipedia), the specific claim that a recent attack forced a 'three-day suspension' is contradicted by an AP report stating flights 'stopped briefly' and resumed after routine checks.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — From 15 April 2023 to 25 March 2025, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) occupied the Khartoum International Airport, Sudan's most important airport, during the War in Sudan as part of the Battle of Kharto…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Support_Forces_occupatio…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Khartoum International Airport (IATA: KRT, ICAO: HSSK) (Arabic: مطار الخرطوم الدولي) is an international airport serving Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The airport was shut down from 15 April 2023 to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khartoum_International_Airport

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — New Khartoum International Airport (Arabic:مطار الخرطوم الدولي الجديد) is an international airport under construction since 2006 in Omdourman, Sudan, 40 km (25 mi) south of Khartoum's city centre. It …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Khartoum_International_Air…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Sudan claims it has evidence that four drone attacks have been launched from Ethiopia with UAE-supplied drones.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent news sources (AP, Reuters, and others) report that Sudan accused Ethiopia and the UAE of orchestrating drone attacks, specifically mentioning evidence of four drones.

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web search NEUTRAL — CAIRO (AP) — The Sudanese government accused Ethiopia of being behind recent drone attacks on sites including Khartoum airport and recalled its ambassador on Tuesday. A military spokesperson in Sudan …
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-ethiopia-rsf-army-drone…

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web search NEUTRAL — Sudan's armed forces have accused Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates of being involved in a drone attack on Khartoum airport, part of a barrage that has shattered months of relative calm in the ...
https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/drones-shatter-months-r…

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web search NEUTRAL — Sudan has accused neighbouring Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) of orchestrating drone strikes on its main airport, describing the assault as "direct aggression".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clype712r3qo

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Claim 3: “In recent months, more than 1.8 million people have returned to Khartoum”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support the claim that 1.8 million people returned to Khartoum.

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Claim 4: “Last week, Khartoum International Airport received its first flight since the conflict began”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the airport received its first flights (both domestic and international) since the start of the conflict.

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web search NEUTRAL — The international airport in Khartoum has received its first scheduled commercial flight in more than two years as the Sudanese government continues to assert its control over Sudan's capital ...
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/1/khartoum-airport-rec…

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web search NEUTRAL — A domestic passenger flight has landed at Khartoum International Airport for the first time since the war broke out over two years ago.
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-khartoum-airport-war-milita…

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web search NEUTRAL — A Kuwait Airways flight carrying 300 Sudanese citizens landed at Khartoum International Airport, marking the first direct international arrival since the conflict began in 2023.
https://sudantribune.com/article/313251

verified

Claim 5: “Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as “baseless” and accused Sudan of fomenting unrest by funding rebels in the Tigray region – the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided evidence for this claim consists of generic Reddit links and unrelated Wikipedia entries. There is no specific evidence in the provided text confirming Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry's response or the accusation regarding the TPLF.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — During the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) the outbreak of violence has led foreign governments to monitor the situation in Sudan and move towards the evacuation and repatriation of its nationals. A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evacuation_of_foreign_national…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; Arabic: قُوَّاتْ الدّعْمْ السَّرِيعْ, romanized: Quwwāt ad-daʿm as-sarīʿ) are a Sudanese paramilitary force formerly operated by the Sudanese government. They originated…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_Support_Forces

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since April 2023, there has been a civil war in Sudan between two primary factions of the country's military government. The conflict involves the internationally recognized government, controlled by …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_civil_war_(2023–prese…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “The government’s SAF retook the city from the RSF in March last year.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple news sources report that the SAF retook control of Khartoum from the RSF after nearly two years of war.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Sudanese army wrested back full control over Khartoum after nearly two years of civil war, capping a weeklong offensive against the paramilitary RSF. The capture of Khartoum marks a turning ...
https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20250328-sudan-army-recla…

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web search NEUTRAL — After more than 23 months of brutal civil war, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have retaken Sudan's capital of Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force largely comprised of J…
https://www.fdd.org/analysis/op_eds/2025/04/01/sudanese-arme…

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web search NEUTRAL — Sudan's military says it has taken full control of Greater Khartoum. Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesman for the Sudanese military, said forces retook the region that includes the capital city of K…
https://apnews.com/article/sudan-war-military-rsf-khartoum-1…

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Claim 7: “the Sudanese government recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web search results (AP, SUNA via news reports, and AFP via news reports) confirm that Sudan recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia following the drone attacks.

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web search NEUTRAL — Sudan has recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia, accusing the country of involvement in a drone attack targeting the airport in the capital, the official news agency SUNA reported Tuesday. A military so…
https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5269749-sudan-recalls-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Sudan recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia on Tuesday and accused Addis Ababa of launching drone attacks that struck Khartoum's international airport and other sites in the capital.
https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/sudan-recalls-a…

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Claim 8: “The war began in April 2023 after a power struggle erupted between the army and the RSF.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 9: “More than 150,000 people are estimated to have been killed, while about 14 million have been displaced, according to the UN.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to support these specific UN casualty and displacement figures.

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Claim 10: “the UAE... has repeatedly denied funding the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The provided Wikipedia entries describe the RSF and UAE involvement in specific incidents (Wad An Nora), but they do not explicitly document the UAE's official denials of funding the RSF in the context of this specific claim.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Wad An Nora (Arabic: ود النورة) is a village in Al Jazirah State, central Sudan. During the Third Sudanese Civil War, Rapid Support Forces backed by UAE killed up to 200 inhabitants.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wad_An_Nora

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Claim 11: “the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that has been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) for more than three years.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia confirms the RSF is a paramilitary force and that a civil war has been ongoing between the RSF and the SAF since April 2023. The 'more than three years' part of the claim is slightly inaccurate based on the 2023 start date, but the conflict itself is verified.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة السودانية, romanized: Al-Qūwāt Al-Musallaḥah as-Sūdāniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of Sudan. The force strength has been estimate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudanese_Armed_Forces

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Territory of the Rapid Support Forces refers to the areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces from 2023 until 2025, until the founding of the Government of Peace and Unity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territory_of_the_Rapid_Support…

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.