Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a sharp rebuke against international criticism linking its armed forces to recent airstrikes inside neighboring Chad, demanding an independent investigation before any conclusions are drawn. The diplomatic confrontation marks a significant escalation in regional tensions, drawing in Washington and pulling neighboring states deeper into the fallout from Sudan’s grinding civil war.
The friction intensified after Massad Boulos, senior adviser to the U.S. president on African affairs, publicly condemned air attacks within Chadian territory, directly attributing the operations to the Sudanese military.
The controversy centers on an incident in northeastern Chad’s Ennedi-Est province, located more than 100 kilometers, or roughly 60 miles, from the volatile Sudanese border. Chadian armed forces reported that an air raid struck a vehicle convoy passing through the region. General Alchanane Issakha Acheikh, the Chadian military spokesman, stated that preliminary information gathered by defense officials indicated the strike was executed by Sudanese aircraft or allied proxy fighters operating near the frontier.
In response, Sudan’s foreign ministry expressed profound astonishment that senior international officials would assign blame without waiting for a professional, impartial inquiry. The ministry maintained that Khartoum strictly respects Chad’s territorial integrity, asserting that the national army operates exclusively within its legal mandate to secure its own borders and defend national sovereignty rather than projecting offensive power across international lines.
Simultaneously, Khartoum used the diplomatic opening to pivot toward what it described as a glaring double standard in international diplomacy. The Sudanese government fiercely questioned the prevailing silence from Western powers and international bodies regarding persistent cross-border drone incursions originating from Ethiopia.
According to military reports from Khartoum, air defense units successfully intercepted and downed a hostile drone over the southeastern Blue Nile region. Officials noted that the incident marked the third time this week alone that a drone of Ethiopian origin had been neutralized in the Blue Nile airspace, following similar interceptions earlier in the week on Sunday and Monday.
The diplomatic standoff is deeply rooted in the broader geopolitical anxieties plaguing the Horn of Africa and the Sahel since the outbreak of the civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023. The protracted conflict has hollowed out state institutions, displaced millions, and spilled rapidly across international boundaries, destabilizing fragile frontier zones and generating a staggering humanitarian catastrophe.
Throughout the conflict, the Sudanese government has repeatedly accused both N’Djamena and Addis Ababa of turning a blind eye to—or actively facilitating—logistical pipelines, supply routes, and military support for the RSF. Both neighboring governments have consistently denied these allegations, maintaining official neutrality despite mounting evidence of cross-border smuggling and militant transit.
Despite the escalating rhetoric and mutual distrust, the Sudanese foreign ministry concluded its statement by signaling a willingness to de-escalate. Officials reiterated Khartoum’s openness to addressing border security, militant movements, and regional stability through direct, bilateral dialogue with both Chad and Ethiopia, aiming to prevent the domestic conflict from dragging the entire subregion into a wider war.
