UN warns Sudan drone strikes threaten hospitals as Ethiopia tensions escalate

The UN has warned that intensifying drone strikes on Sudan’s power and fuel infrastructure are disrupting vital hospital services and water supplies, as a deepening diplomatic rift with Ethiopia raises fears of wider regional instability.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said on Wednesday that the UN Human Rights Office had recorded at least 25 attacks on power and fuel infrastructure across 11 Sudanese states in the previous fortnight.

Denise Brown, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, told UN News on Tuesday that energy and fuel facilities appeared to be systematically targeted in the attacks.

Highlighting the devastating impact on healthcare, Brown recalled how a power outage at a hospital outside Khartoum disrupted dialysis treatment for 25 patients. The hospital had no backup generator or solar panels.

In Blue Nile state, she described worsening conditions for displaced people, with residents at a camp desperately seeking food assistance.

“How can I tell people to be patient and wait for food? How does that happen? They have no money. They've left everything behind,” she said.

The humanitarian crisis is being compounded by a funding shortfall. The UN's nearly $2.9 billion humanitarian appeal has received just 47 per cent of the required funding, with less than two months left in the year.

Sudan and Ethiopia close diplomatic missions

The humanitarian emergency comes as relations between Sudan and neighbouring Ethiopia deteriorate, with both countries closing each other’s consulates near their shared border.

The closures follow mutual accusations of backing rival forces in their respective conflicts.

Sudan has accused Ethiopia of supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), while Addis Ababa claimsKhartoum is backing rebel groups in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.

Both countries have denied the allegations.

Mutual accusations raise fears of wider conflict

The diplomatic standoff intensified after Sudan lodged a complaint against Ethiopia with the UN Security Council and the African Union's Peace and Security Council.

• Drone attack sparks fire at power station in northern Sudan
• UN investigators say foreign arms and fighters are fuelling Sudan’s war
• South Sudan says Sudan army drone strike killed over 150 in Abyei

Khartoum accused Ethiopia of allowing RSF fighters to launch drone attacks on Sudanese civilian infrastructure from Ethiopian territory.

Ethiopia has denied supporting the paramilitary group. The office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

In a separate dispute, Ethiopia has accused Sudan, Egypt and Eritrea of backing Tigrayan rebels who launched a September offensive against government forces. All three countries have denied the allegations.

The escalating tensions have fuelled fears that Sudan's war and Ethiopia's internal conflict could become increasingly intertwined, threatening stability across the wider Horn of Africa.

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Sudan Ethiopia United Nations Khartoum Africa News