Sudan war: Evidence that Iran and UAE drones used

Mr Zwijnenburg identified another version of the drone in a satellite image of the army’s Wadi Seidna military base, north of Khartoum, taken three days later.

“These drones are very effective because they can identify targets accurately with minimal training,” he says.

Three weeks after the Mohajer-6 was shot down, a video emerged of another drone downed by the RSF.

Mr Zwijnenburg matched this one to the Zajil-3 – a locally manufactured version of the Iranian Ababil-3 drone.

The Zajil-3 drones have been used in Sudan for years. But January was the first time they were employed in this war, as observed by the BBC and PAX.

In March, Mr Zwijnenburg identified one more version of the Zajil-3 captured in a satellite image of Wadi Seidna.

“[It is] an indication of active Iranian support for the Sudanese army,” he says, although Sudan’s governing council has denied acquiring weapons from Iran.

“If these drones are equipped with guided munitions, it means they were supplied by Iran because those munitions are not produced in Sudan,” Mr Zwijnenburg adds.

In early December, a Boeing 747 passenger plane belonging to Iranian cargo carrier Qeshm Fars Air took off from Bandar Abbas airport in Iran, heading towards the Red Sea before disappearing from radar.

Hours later, satellites captured an image of a plane of the same type at Port Sudan airport in the east of the country, where Sudanese army officials are based.

A photo of the same plane on the runway later circulated on Twitter.