KHARTOUM — Sudan recalled its ambassador from Ethiopia after accusing Addis Ababa and the United Arab Emirates of orchestrating a drone attack on Khartoum International Airport that forced authorities to suspend operations for three days. Sudan's military said it has evidence that four drone attacks have been launched from Ethiopia since early March and that the UAE supplied the drones used in those strikes.

Khartoum International Airport received its first flight since the conflict began last week, after the Sudanese Armed Forces retook Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces in March last year. More than 1.8 million people have returned to the capital in recent months, though much of Khartoum remains without electricity or basic services.

Ethiopia's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as "baseless" and accused Sudan of fomenting unrest by funding the Tigray People's Liberation Front. The ministry said it had not publicised those alleged violations of its territorial integrity to preserve a "historic and enduring bond of friendship" with Sudan.

Amanuel Assefa, a senior official with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, rejected the characterization. "We have no connections with the Sudanese authorities," Assefa said.

The UAE has repeatedly denied funding the Rapid Support Forces, and Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied involvement in the conflict. The Rapid Support Forces have been at war with the Sudanese Armed Forces for more than three years, after a power struggle erupted between the army and the paramilitary group in April 2023. The United Nations has described the war as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, estimating that more than 150,000 people have been killed and about 14 million displaced. Drones have become a central component of the fighting.

Alan Boswell, Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group, said in an interview that the war in Sudan was driving regional tensions. "The main trigger really is just that this war in Sudan continues to escalate with no clear off-ramp, and it is really starting to tear apart the Horn of Africa region," Boswell said. He added that both warring parties in Sudan would have run out of munitions very early in the war without external support.

"Both countries are facing massive internal challenges, and essentially, both sides now see the other as supporting their armed opponents," Boswell said. "That suspicion of each other creates a very dangerous dynamic and risks making their own internal challenges much worse."