Sudan recalls ambassador to Ethiopia after Khartoum airport drone attack
Sudan has recalled its ambassador to Ethiopia, accusing the country of involvement in a drone attack targeting Khartoum airport, according to reporting on the event date of 2026-05-05.
The report says the official news agency SUNA carried the statement, and that foreign minister Mohieddin Salem announced the recall for consultations. The allegation is serious because it shifts blame beyond Sudan’s own warring domestic forces and points toward a neighboring state as part of the attack’s origin.
A military source told AFP that Sudanese air defenses downed drones aimed at Khartoum airport on Monday, while witnesses reported hearing blasts and seeing smoke near the area. That places the incident in the middle of a wider pattern of drone attacks that have intensified in Sudan in recent months.
The source packet notes that Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces have both used drones during the war that began in April 2023. It also says the military had previously accused the RSF in March of launching drone strikes from inside Ethiopian territory, marking the first public allegation of Ethiopian involvement in the conflict. That background is important because it shows the airport incident is part of a broader dispute over where attacks are being launched from.
The article should be careful not to treat the Ethiopian role as independently proven. The verified fact is that Sudan’s army-aligned government has accused Ethiopia and recalled its ambassador. The source also says Salem stated it had been conclusively proven that the attack originated from Ethiopia, but that remains the government’s position, not an independently established conclusion in the packet.
The UAE also appears in the report, with Salem referring to a UAE-Ethiopia drone attack on Khartoum International Airport. The UAE has been widely accused of arming the RSF and has repeatedly denied the allegations. That adds another layer of regional tension, but the article should not overextend beyond the source’s limited information.
The recall of an ambassador is a formal diplomatic step and typically signals serious friction even if it stops short of a full rupture. In this case, it underscores how Sudan’s war continues to spill into regional politics and how airport security has become a flashpoint in the conflict.
The immediate story is therefore twofold: a drone attack targeted the airport, and Sudan responded by recalling its ambassador to Ethiopia while assigning blame across the border.
With the war still active and drone strikes intensifying, the diplomatic fallout is likely to continue.
