Chad bombing raises fresh questions over Turkey’s role in Sudan war

Sudan’s war has entered a more dangerous phase as fighting spills across the country’s borders, raising fresh concerns about the regional consequences of the conflict.

The Chadian Army has accused the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) of carrying out an airstrike against a convoy inside Chadian territory.

According to the Chadian General Staff, the attack occurred at about 8 p.m. on August 20 in the Mourdi department of Ennedi-Est province, near the Sudanese border. It said aircraft and drones believed to belong to the SAF or its allies pursued and struck the convoy more than 100 kilometres inside Chad. The convoy was reportedly carrying reinforcements for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which the Sudanese army regards as a rebel group.

The August incident followed an earlier attack in March, when a drone strike from Sudan killed 17 people, including mourners attending a funeral in the Chadian border town of Tiné. The attack led Chad to close its border with Sudan and place its military on high alert.

The strikes have raised fresh concerns about the reach of the SAF’s air campaign and the foreign support that has helped expand its military capabilities.

The US has since condemned the airstrikes, calling for an end to external support for the conflict. Massad Boulos, the US president’s senior adviser for Arab and African affairs, said Washington opposed the expansion of violence beyond Sudan’s borders and stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict.

“The parties must immediately accept a humanitarian truce, protect civilians, and allow unhindered humanitarian access,” he said.

Boulos also called for the UN arms embargo, currently focused on Darfur, to be expanded to cover the whole of Sudan, while accusing foreign powers of escalating the war.

“The UN Security Council must also act with urgency to ensure that the arms embargo and sanctions regime reflect the realities of the conflict today and hold those fueling and expanding this war accountable. External financial and military support to the warring parties must stop,” he said.

The US has also warned that external support is escalating the war, while the growing use of armed drones is making the conflict harder to contain and obstructing efforts to reach a political settlement.

The war began on April 15, 2023, when fighting erupted between the SAF and the Rapid Support Forces amid a deepening power struggle over Sudan’s political transition and the proposed integration of the RSF into the regular army. It has continued despite repeated ceasefire efforts and international initiatives to end the conflict.

The strike in Chad has therefore brought renewed attention to the weapons, technology and foreign relationships that have strengthened the SAF’s military capabilities, including its growing use of Turkish-made drones.

French report highlights Turkey’s involvement

A Le Monde report has placed Turkey at the centre of the SAF’s external military support. The French newspaper reported Turkey emergence as the Sudanese army’s principal military supporter since the war began, supplying Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı drones and deploying instructors alongside them. It also reported that Saudi Arabia financed purchases of Turkish drones and Pakistani weapons for the SAF.

The report comes amid a deepening political relationship between Turkey and Sudan’s military leadership. On August 7, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan signed the Makkah Joint Defense Agreement, under which an armed attack against any one of the three countries would be regarded as an attack against all three.

According to Le Monde, cooperation among the three countries over Sudan predates the agreement, with Riyadh financing Turkish drones and Pakistani weapons for the SAF. The newspaper also reported a $1.5 billion Pakistani arms contract involving fighter jets, armoured vehicles and drones.

Since late 2024, Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 and Akıncı drones have reportedly become part of the Sudanese army’s expanding aerial arsenal. The SAF has also used Iranian-made Mohajer-6 drones, while Chinese-made CH-95 and FH-95 systems have been deployed by the RSF, reflecting the growing role of foreign-supplied drone technology in Sudan’s war.

While there has been no concrete evidence that a Turkish-made Bayraktar drone carried out the specific strike inside Chad, the significance of Turkey’s role lies instead in the broader evidence of its military and political relationship with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF).

In March 2025, The Washington Post reported that Turkish defence company Baykar had supplied the Sudanese army with at least $120 million worth of military equipment, including TB2 drones and hundreds of warheads. The investigation, based on contracts, correspondence, registries and visual material, also documented Baykar personnel providing technical support in Sudan.

In May 2026, Chatham House examined reports of Turkish drone supplies to the SAF while noting Ankara’s denial of direct deliveries.

The relationship took on a clearer political dimension in June, when President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in Ankara. The Turkish presidency said the two countries were seeking to expand cooperation in trade, agriculture, energy and defence.

Recent events have established Turkey’s role in Sudan beyond individual drone deliveries. Ankara is deepening its political relationship with the military leadership while also positioning itself as a diplomatic actor in the conflict.

Turkey’s relationship with Sudan predates the current war by decades. But President Erdoğan’s 2017 meeting with Omar al-Bashir and the agreement to redevelop Suakin underscored Ankara’s strategic interest in Sudan’s Red Sea coast.

The potential economic stakes are also substantial. Sudan’s eventual reconstruction will require major investment in infrastructure, energy, agriculture and other sectors, while its Red Sea coastline and mineral resources offer significant strategic and commercial opportunities.

Foreign powers are therefore increasingly shaping not only how Sudan’s war is fought but also the interests that could surround the country after the fighting ends. Turkey’s expanding relationship with the SAF is part of that wider contest, while the strike inside Chad demonstrates how increasingly difficult it is to contain the consequences of Sudan’s war within its borders.