Sudan accuses Ethiopia of allowing RSF drone launches from its territory

Joining us now is Ali Mahmoud Ali, Sudan researcher at ACLID. That's the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, which tracks conflict worldwide. Thank you so much for joining us, Ali, on the show. Sudan accuses Ethiopia of allowing RSF drones to be launched from its territory. What evidence do you have at ACLID to support those claims? Well, like, first of all, like, the accusation is not new. This is the second time Sudan government or the army accuses Ethiopia of supporting the RSF. The first was in May after intercepted drone, and then last 28th of October. And the evidence, like the data we have in Akhlet, there is just, there is a correlation, But there is an increase. in the political violence events which include battle events and drone strikes and also interceptions. and other kind of like how we call the conflict itself. So the conflict events have increased in Blue Nile from 70 events in 2025 to more than 330, which is fourfold of the previous year's increase. And there is also reports that emerged Where's the... That from Reuters and Yale School of Public Health. Thank Ali, we'll get on to the Blue Nile and you the significance of that. very But I just want to touch first on the drones themselves, because when we imagine drone warfare and what much. is actually taking place right now in terms of these drone strikes. What are these drones? What type of drones are they? And do we have any idea where these drones are actually being manufactured and how they make their way to the point of departure? So basically, the data that the Sudanese government presented contained like two types of, two categories of drones. Thank Suicidal drones, which are one-side attack drones, and the strategic drones that have that. Long-range capabilities and can fly in high altitude you and be in sky for 20 to more than 20 hours. very And the Sudanese army presented in May data of a drone fragment much. or remains that's collected. Thank you very much. They found that the drone type was a Kenji produced by Barikar. or manufactured by Baykar, which is Turkey-made, and then they asked the Turkey about like their drone origin and location from which it was operated. And I think this is the key point in Thank evidence or claims that the drones were launched from Ethiopia and providing also drone sites. you Different types of frightening, in addition to the drone that very themselves have been also presented to diplomats in Harbin. much. That's quite a journey for those drones from the manufacturing site to the point of contact as well. And it obviously opens a whole can of worms to know who is actually involved in all of this. But ultimately, the fingers are being pointed at the rapid support forces, the RSF militia, who is still fighting in the Kordofan region in Darfur as well. And now this has taken us to Blue Nile. Just speak to me about this change in approach. I mean, are we seeing this? Conflict actually spread or is this just a one-off? I think this shift to Blue 9 is a tactical move from the RSF in order to distract the Sudanese army from advancing west toward Darfur and West Kurdistan, which is their stronghold and where their main constituencies are based. So by today, I think, by yesterday, the SAF has already started to advance in skirmishes in West Kurdistan. This is the main issue, and this will be a real threat to the RSF and their future. And that's why the RSF sought to push in Blue Nile in order to distract staff from advancing westward toward their stronghold in Darfur and in West Kordofan in particular. And is that why the RSF is also now targeting electricity infrastructure? I believe that Akhled recorded 17 RSF attacks on that kind of infrastructure in just the past two weeks. Yes, exactly. The RSF is trying to, by targeting the infrastructure and the power station, trying to make the government share the failure to provide services to civilians. And putting pressure on the government and on the SAF who came to negotiation tables, which they strongly reject. Uh... And they have their adjustment to the proposal that provided by different initiatives. And the calculation is that, like the SAF, He's planning to go westward, and that's why the RSF is targeting the infrastructure in order to bring them to negotiation tables that could bring ceasefire, which gives the RSF space to rebuild, especially after the severely targeting of their convoys and supply routes from Libya, Chad, and so on. Ali Mahmood Ali, thank you so much for just outlining all of that for us. Of course, that conflict is still very much underway between the Sudanese forces and the rapid support force paramilitary.