According to security officials, Egypt has provided drones to the Sudanese military, potentially escalating a conflict that is increasingly involving multiple regional actors, as reported by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sudan’s military received a few squadrons of military drones last month.
Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been engaged in a power struggle that escalated into violence on April 15, resulting in the loss of hundreds of lives.
Analysts say Egypt sending highly advanced drones to Sudanese army, which is fighting a losing battle on the ground against the RSF, will enflame a conflict that has displaced millions and push the country further into chaos.
Spokesmen for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and the Sudanese military didn’t return requests for comment to the WSJ.
War broke out in Sudan on April 15 – four years after a popular uprising ousted dictator Omar al-Bashir. Tensions between the army (SAF) and RSF, which jointly removed him from power in 2021, erupted into fighting over a plan to integrate their forces as part of a transition to civilian rule.
According to the United Nations, since April, approximately 380,000 refugees, predominantly women and children, have sought refuge in Chad due to the conflict. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands have also fled to countries including the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.
