The Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS) said on Thursday that its air defence forces had shot down a Turkish-made Bayraktar drone belonging to the Sudanese army in the Blue Nile region, amid continuing aerial attacks and fighting in southeastern Sudan.
In a statement reported by local Sudanese media, the alliance said the aircraft was intercepted while allegedly attempting to target civilians. It accused the army of carrying out repeated airstrikes against residential neighbourhoods, public facilities, hospitals and critical infrastructure.
An RSF media official, Colonel Al-Tayeb Khalil, told the Sudanese newspaper Al-Jamaheer that the drone had been brought down near Kurmuk, in Blue Nile, and said the alliance’s forces would remain alert to further aerial threats.
TASIS said its forces remained prepared to intercept aerial attacks and protect towns and villages. It called on the international community, regional organisations and human rights bodies to condemn attacks on populated areas and take action to halt them.
The alliance’s claims about the aircraft’s intended target and the circumstances of its destruction could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese army announced on Thursday that its air defences had shot down a drone in a separate incident in North Kordofan.
According to a statement carried by the Sudan News Agency, the army said it had intercepted an FH-95 drone northeast of Al-Kukaiti. The military did not identify the aircraft’s operator in its official statement.
The competing announcements come amid continued fighting in Sudan’s Blue Nile and Kordofan regions, where drones have become an increasingly prominent feature of the conflict.
Sudan’s war, which erupted in April 2023, has devastated large parts of the country, displaced millions of civilians and left critical infrastructure severely damaged.
