Drones have been a constant part of the year-long battle between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and fighters with the paramilitary Rapid Support Force. In recent months, however, the SAF’s drone attacks have evolved more precisely and deadlier, experts state, thanks to the acquisition of Iranian technology.
In response, the RSF has expanded its use of drones against military and civilian targets associated with the SAF. As they have been since the inception of the conflict on April 15, 2023, Sudan’s civilians are often caught in the middle. “In recent weeks, the Army has started to use precise drones in military operations, which caused the RSF to flee from many areas and permitted the army to deploy forces on the ground,” Mohamed Othman, a 59-year-old resident of Omdurman, said.
Drones have enabled the SAF make progress after months of losing ground. SAF drones played a vital role in the Army’s ability to retake portions of Omdurman, including the headquarters of Sudan’s national radio and television broadcaster. Both sides regularly employ drones for surveillance, to shoot video footage of battles, and, in some circumstances, to make kamikaze episodes or to drop bombs on fighters. Sudanese military leaders have rejected that they are acquiring drones from Iran. However, the RSF has demonstrated repeatedly on its social media accounts pictures of SAF-controlled Iranian drones it claims to have shot down.
The Sudan War Monitor verified in January the arrival of Iranian cargo planes in Port Sudan, where the SAF is headquartered. A few days later, Sudanese administrators on behalf of the SAF were back in Iran dealing to restore diplomatic ties after a seven-year break. Also in January, satellite images unleashed by Planet Labs Inc. demonstrate Iranian Mohajer-6 drones and a ground-control vehicle on the runway at Wadi Sayyidna air base approximately 22 kilometres north of Khartoum.
Sudan’s Army made Iranian-developed drones under a joint program until the two nations broke ties in 2016. Since the dispute broke out between SAF chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto president, and his opponent, Gen. Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo, al-Burhan has re-established relations with Iran The RSF has reacted to the SAF’s use of Iranian drones by ramping up its drone attacks. In early April, the RSF projected drone attacks against SAF targets in Gedaref state and the city of Atbara in eastern Sudan, a territory that had avoided bloodshed.
Observers in Atbara told Agence France-Presse the aggression there killed 12 people and injured 30 others. The attack targeted a militia base during the iftar meal during Ramadan when civilians and pro-SAF fighters had assembled to eat. Recent drone attacks echo drone attacks by both sides. The RSF embarked drones against a hospital in Omdurman in July 2023. Before that, SAF drone attacks ushered in civilian casualties as the army endeavoured early in the conflict to drive RSF fighters from their covering places among residential buildings and public markets.
As al-Burhan and Hemedti compete for control over Sudan, drones such as Iran’s Mohajer-6 appear to be recreating an increasing role in the fight, according to analysts. That likely represents more death and destruction lie ahead, according to analyst Cameron Hudson with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Upcoming battles over Wad Madani and the Darfuri capital of El Fasher are likely to discharge substantial new civilian casualties and displacements — possibly the worst of the war so far,” Hudson noted recently.
