Sudan and Ethiopia Trade Drone and Arms-Smuggling Accusations at the UN Security Council

Sudan accused Ethiopia at the UN Security Council on 16 October 2026 of being a launch point for drones attacking its Blue Nile state. Ethiopia’s ambassador rejected the charge as “baseless” and said evidence of Sudanese arms smuggled into Ethiopia would be published “in due course”.

What Sudan said

Sudan’s ambassador, Al-Harith Idriss Al-Harith Mohamed, told the Council’s meeting on Sudan that drones were “being launched from neighboring countries” against Blue Nile and the power stations of the Roseires dam, according to the UN transcript of his remarks, which were delivered in Arabic and interpreted. He said an Ethiopian drone had been shot down on 30 May at Kor al-Dahab, on the border, while photographing sites up to 45 km inside Sudan, and that the army had shot down three “hostile suicide drones that crossed the border from Ethiopia into the Blue Nile region”. He also said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had been launching attacks “from the Asosa area”, which lies in Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region. He presented no evidence to the Council beyond his statement.

What Ethiopia said

Ethiopia’s ambassador, Tesfaye Yilma Sabo, said Sudan’s representative had made “a baseless accusation” that Addis Ababa “categorically” rejects. Ethiopia was trying to handle “even grave violations of Ethiopia’s territorial integrity and national security committed by some actors in the Sudanese civil war” through bilateral channels, he said, adding: “Ample evidence of Sudanese arms smuggled into Ethiopia will be made available in due course.” He also said Ethiopia was concerned by reports that “a neighboring state of Sudan” was taking part in the war, including by operating drone bases, and that strikes from a neighbouring state had killed civilians and artisanal gold miners inside Sudan. He did not name that state. The UN press summary of the meeting records the same points.

The UN’s warning

Rosemary DiCarlo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, pointed to altercations on both sides of the Sudan-Ethiopia border, the UN summary said, and called on all parties to avoid spillover, saying “preventing a wider regional crisis must remain our collective priority”. She urged outside actors to stop using drones or strictly regulate their use.

What is established

Both sets of claims were made formally before the Council and are on the UN record. Neither has been independently verified. DefenceMENA has not seen evidence that ties specific drone strikes in Blue Nile to launch sites in Ethiopia, nor the evidence of arms smuggling that Ethiopia says it will release.

Previous developments

DefenceMENA has followed the drone strikes around Ed Damazin in Blue Nile, including a Sudanese Armed Forces claim on 12 October that air defences downed a “hostile strategic drone” that came from the Ethiopian direction. In Ethiopia, the army has shown foreign military attachés drones it says were seized from Tigrayan forces, and Addis Ababa has separately invoked self-defence against Eritrea in letters to the UN.

What to watch

Points to watch: whether Ethiopia publishes the evidence it promised, any Sudanese documentation of the drones it says it shot down, and discussion at next week’s Sudan Consultative Group meeting in Geneva, which speakers mentioned at the Council.

Sources

• United Nations: Security Council, 10245th meeting, transcript (16 October 2026)
• UN Meetings Coverage: SC/16481, Sudan briefing (16 October 2026)