Launched from EthiopiaEvidentiary report · Republic of Sudan

The report

Full report, sources and glossary

Republic of Sudan · Transitional Sovereignty Council · Advisory Board. Khartoum, October 2026. Official, for diplomatic distribution.

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The incident log (Annex A) is also available as data: CSV · JSON.

How to cite: Republic of Sudan, Transitional Sovereignty Council, Advisory Board, Launched from Ethiopia: Forensic, geospatial and documentary evidence of Ethiopia's role in the drone war against the Republic of Sudan, Khartoum, October 2026. https://launchedfromethiopia.com

About this report

The Republic of Sudan presents evidence that armed drone operations against its territory are being launched from Ethiopia. This report identifies the facilities and border areas attacked, examines recovered aircraft and their onboard data, and records the attacks and their consequences. It brings together the findings presented by the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, the Military Intelligence Authority and the General Intelligence Service on 28 October 2026 and sets out Sudan's official position.

The Government of Sudan offers the recovered wreckage, flight-control hardware, original files and chain-of-custody records for independent technical examination under United Nations or African Union auspices. Its demand is that the evidence be examined and the attacks brought to an end.

Sources and footnotes

  1. United Nations, Final report of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan, S/2024/65, 15 January 2024.
  2. United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, Fuelling Sudan's conflict: weapons, fighters and external support networks, A/HRC/63/23, 1 September 2026, paras. 97–98 and 125.
  3. United States Department of the Treasury, Treasury Sanctions Sudanese Paramilitary Leader, Weapons Supplier, and Related Companies, 7 January 2025.
  4. Amnesty International, Sudan: Advanced Chinese weaponry provided by UAE identified in breach of arms embargo - new investigation, 8 May 2025.
  5. Giulia Paravicini and Reade Levinson, Reuters, Ethiopia builds secret camp to train Sudan RSF fighters, sources say, 10 February 2026, updated 11 February 2026.
  6. Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health, Evidence of Continued Support to RSF Forces at ENDF Base in Asosa, Situation Report No. 76, 10 June 2026, pp. 3–7.
  7. OHCHR briefing on drone attacks in Sudan, May 2026; statement of the High Commissioner, June 2026 (reported by the Associated Press); OHCHR figures for 1–21 October 2026 reported by allAfrica, 23 October 2026.
  8. United Nations figures cited by Al Jazeera, "Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan's Blue Nile region", 9 October 2026.
  9. The National, "Sudanese government says drone attack launched from Ethiopia", 3 March 2026.
  10. Al Jazeera, "Sudan blames Ethiopia, UAE for recent drone attacks: What we know", 6 May 2026; Reuters, 5 May 2026.
  11. Boundaries: Sudan administrative boundaries (Information Management Working Group/OCHA, 2020) and Ethiopia national boundary (Africa Open Data, 2016), both as distributed by the geoBoundaries project (William & Mary). Distances computed by the Government of Sudan.
  12. Statement of the SAF spokesperson, Brigadier General Asim Awad Abdelwahab, Khartoum, 5 May 2026, reported by Al Jazeera and Reuters.
  13. Militarnyi, "Sudanese Army Shot Down Bayraktar Akinci That Flew in From Ethiopia Using Its Own Akinci", 23 May 2026; Military Africa, 24 May 2026.
  14. Military Africa, "Ethiopia unveils Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jet and Akinci combat drone", 17 January 2024; The Defense Post, 19 January 2024.
  15. Al Jazeera, "Drone strike kills 30 people in Sudan's Blue Nile region", 9 October 2026; Asharq Al-Awsat (AFP), "26 Women, 4 Children Killed in Sudan RSF Drone Strike", 9 October 2026; Military Intelligence Authority.
  16. Xinhua, "4 people, including 3 children, killed in drone attacks on Sudanese capital Khartoum", 20 October 2026; The Washington Post, 19 October 2026; Sudan Tribune, "Three Children Killed in RSF Drone Strike Near Khartoum Airport", October 2026.
  17. Al Jazeera, "Drone attacks across Sudan escalate, 160 people reported killed", 19 October 2026.
  18. Associated Press, "Large parts of Sudan's capital lose power after drone attack", 27 October 2026; Radio Tamazuj, 28 October 2026.
  19. Reuters, "Ethiopia builds secret camp to train Sudan RSF fighters, sources say", 10 February 2026 (as published by Arab News Japan and Asharq Al-Awsat, 10–11 February 2026).
  20. Geeska, "Alleged UAE-linked RSF training facility in Ethiopia draws U.S. concern", 11 February 2026.
  21. AFP, "Ethiopia army base used to support Sudan paramilitary: report", 9 April 2026, reporting the findings of the Yale School of Public Health Humanitarian Research Lab.
  22. Frontlines.et conflict monitor, events recorded at Asosa, August–October 2026 (open-source satellite monitoring, graded B: verified by one independent source).
  23. Janes, "Sudan claims numerous UAV attacks launched from Ethiopia", 30 October 2026.
  24. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, statement of 5 May 2026, reported by Al Jazeera and Radio Tamazuj, 5–6 May 2026.
  25. ICJ, Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v. United States of America), Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1986, p. 14, paras. 195 and 228.
  26. ICJ, Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), Judgment, ICJ Reports 2005, p. 168, paras. 161–165.
  27. ICJ, Corfu Channel (United Kingdom v. Albania), Merits, Judgment, ICJ Reports 1949, p. 4, at p. 22.

Glossary

Akıncı
Bayraktar Akıncı: Turkish twin-engine, medium-altitude long-endurance armed drone manufactured by Baykar
Autopilot
On-board flight-control computer that stores and executes a pre-programmed mission
ENDF
Ethiopian National Defence Force
FPV
First-person-view drone, piloted through a live camera feed
GCS
Ground-control station from which a drone is commanded
GERD
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
MALE
Medium-altitude long-endurance (strategic) drone
MAVLink
Open communication and mission protocol used by many drone flight controllers
NCAGE
NATO Commercial and Government Entity code identifying a manufacturer
NSN
NATO Stock Number; digits 5–6 identify the codifying country (27 = Türkiye)
OWA
One-way attack (suicide) drone
RSF
Rapid Support Forces, the militia waging war on the Sudanese State
SATCOM
Satellite communications, used to control drones beyond line of sight
TB2
Bayraktar TB2: Turkish medium-altitude armed drone
Waypoint (WP)
A programmed geographic point on a drone's route