Sudan has publicly accused the United Arab Emirates of carrying out a military strike on Port Sudan earlier this month, marking the first time the Sudanese government has directly blamed the Gulf nation for intervening in the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
In a statement, the UAE firmly denied the allegations and condemned the attack.
“It is deeply regrettable that the authorities in Port Sudan continue to inflict violence on their own citizens, while attempting to shift responsibility for the country’s internal conflict by making baseless accusations against others,” a UAE official said.
Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Monday, Sudan’s ambassador to the UN, al-Harith Idris, claimed that the May 4 airstrike on Port Sudan currently the army’s wartime capital was conducted using MQ-9 or MQ-9B drones and kamikaze UAVs.
According to Idris, the attack was launched from an Emirati base on the Red Sea with support from Emirati naval vessels.
He further alleged that the strike was retaliation for a Sudanese army assault on May 3 in Nyala, a city under RSF control, where an alleged Emirati aircraft was reportedly targeted.
That operation, Idris claimed, resulted in the deaths of 13 foreign nationals, including individuals identified as “Emirati elements.”
