"Egypt’s secret drone base hidden in the Sahara attacking Sudan’s RSF" 2 February 2026

The base is in Egypt, hidden amid a vast, agricultural project in the country’s Western desert. But the targets are in Sudan...The clandestine drone operation offers new evidence of how the civil war in Sudan — racked by famine, atrocities and tens of thousands of deaths — is morphing into a sprawling theater for high-tech drone warfare driven by the interests of rival foreign powers...

Satellite images, flight records and videos reviewed by The New York Times, as well as interviews with American, European and Arab officials, suggest that for at least six months, advanced military drones based at the Egyptian airstrip have been carrying out strikes in Sudan...Egypt’s foreign ministry and foreign press center, and Sudan’s military, did not respond to questions for this article...

The R.S.F. uses Chinese long-range CH-95 drones that are supplied by the Emirates, the group’s wealthy Gulf ally. Sudan’s military uses the latest satellite-operated drones from Baykar, Turkey’s largest defense contractor...Other flights were operated by Aviacon Zitotrans, a Russian airline under American sanctions since 2023 for its role in global arms smuggling, Ursa Space found...Turkey’s defense ministry said in an email: “Turkish Armed Forces do not have any activities in Sudan.”...

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