ADF STAFF
In recent months, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have recaptured crucial territory from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) thanks in part to a key addition to their arsenal: Turkish drones.
In October, Sudan’s military received two Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2s, bringing its total to eight TB2 drones.
The SAF used the drones to attack RSF supply convoys and artillery units in el-Gezira State, including an attack on the Baka Bridge near Wad Madani. The drones joined the assault on Khartoum State in late 2024 as the military pushed to retake parts of the capital region.
The drones accelerated the Army’s advance into territory north of Khartoum in addition to the North Kordofan State capital, el-Obeid. El-Obeid is a hub for moving between the RSF’s base in Darfur and its forces in Khartoum.
Turkish drones, including the TB2, have become popular with militaries across Africa due to their low cost, long flight duration and ability to carry explosive payloads.
According to Sudan’s military, the introduction of Turkish drones has reshaped the battlefield.
“At the beginning of the war, we lost many military bases and faced significant challenges,” one Sudanese military official told Middle East Eye. “With the arrival of the drones, the RSF’s superiority ended. Now we have air support that matches our strength on the ground.”
Turkey has sold Sudan’s Army more than $120 million in drones since late 2023, The Washington Post reported. The equipment includes eight TB2s and hundreds of warheads. The Turkish drones supplement Iranian Mohajer-6 drones that the SAF has used since late 2023.
The RSF has responded by increasing its own use of drones, often against civilian sites such as hospitals.
Analysts say using drones, including the Bayraktar TB2s, in dense urban areas has led to rising civilian casualties.
“Innocent civilians in Sudan continue to have their homes, lives, and communities devastated by these indiscriminately used weapons,” reported Drone Wars, a research and advocacy group, in a recent analysis.
Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine reported that more than 60,000 civilians have died in Khartoum State since the conflict between the SAF and RSF broke out in April 2023. More than 20,000 of those deaths were directly due to violence. It’s unclear how many were due to drone attacks.
Civilian deaths have risen sharply since the beginning of 2025 as the SAF presses to regain more territory from the RSF.
In a single week at the beginning of February, United Nations officials recorded more than 275 deaths from airstrikes, including drone attacks in Khartoum, and across North Darfur, South Darfur, North Kordofan and South Kordofan. That figure was triple the total civilian deaths from a week earlier.
“The sharp increase in civilian deaths underscores the dire risks civilians face amid the continued failure by the parties to the conflict and their allies to protect civilians,” Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. “Indiscriminate attacks, as well as threats and attacks directed against civilians, must cease immediately.”