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Türkiye-made Bayraktar Akinci unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) have been striking Rapid Support Forces (RSF) targets in Sudan from a covert Egyptian airbase hidden in the Western Desert, according to a New York Times (NYT) investigation based on satellite imagery, flight records and intelligence sources.
The Turkish Defense Ministry denied any Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) activities in Sudan.
The airstrip sits next to giant crop circles at the edge of the Sahara, with military drones taking off over enormous fields of wheat, according to the NYT's investigation.
Satellite images, flight records and videos reviewed by the Times, as well as interviews with American, European, and Arab officials, claim that for at least six months, advanced military drones based at the Egyptian airstrip have been carrying out strikes in Sudan.
The drones target the Rapid Support Forces, the ruthless paramilitary group that has been battling the Sudanese military for more than 1,000 days.
In response to the allegations, Turkish Defense Ministry sources told the NYT that the Turkish Armed Forces do not have any activities in Sudan.
"Turkish Armed Forces do not have any activities in Sudan," the ministry said in an email to the newspaper.
A senior Turkish official said the Baykar drones were exported in accordance with international law and that the government does not provide any direct support to Sudan's military.
The Times reported that at least two Akinci drones were operating from the base and striking targets inside Sudan by December.
With a range of more than 4,500 miles, the Akinci can carry at least three times more bombs than the TB2 and costs at least four times more, according to experts cited by the NYT.
The conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF, which began in April 2023, has killed thousands of people, displaced millions of others, and led to one of the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control.
The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east, and center of the country, including Khartoum.
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