A cross-border drone strike blamed by regional actors on General al-Burhan’s army (SAF) has killed at least 17 civilians in eastern Chad, marking a dangerous expansion of Sudan’s war beyond its borders.
The attack hit the border town of Tine on Wednesday as mourners gathered for a funeral, with two explosions tearing through a residential area and killing attendees, including children, according to local and government sources.
Chad’s presidency and multiple Arabic-language sources attributed the strike to what they described as the “Islamist army,” a reference widely used for forces aligned with General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The Sudan Founding Alliance (TASIS) echoed the accusation, condemning the attack as a deliberate act of cross-border aggression.
“This attack demonstrates that this terrorist army has become a direct threat to regional peace and security,” TASIS said in a statement, warning that continued inaction risks further destabilising neighbouring states.
The SAF and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) traded blame following the strike, with the SAF issuing condolences while denying responsibility. However, the incident follows a pattern of drone activity near the Chad border that has previously been linked by humanitarian organisations and local reports to SAF operations.
Chadian authorities said all those killed were civilians and warned that the country could carry out retaliatory operations inside Sudan if such attacks continue.
President Mahamat Idriss Deby has ordered heightened military deployments along the eastern frontier, signalling a shift toward a more assertive response as the conflict increasingly spills into neighbouring territory.
The Sudan war, which erupted in April 2023, has repeatedly triggered cross-border violence, but the Tine strike represents one of the deadliest incidents on Chadian soil to date.
TASIS called on the international community to move beyond condemnation and take concrete action, warning that failure to deter further attacks could push the region toward a broader confrontation.