Drone attack from Sudan injures civilians in eastern Chad, official says
July 22, 2026 (TINE) – A Chadian official said Wednesday that a drone arriving from Sudanese territory attacked positions inside Chad, injuring civilians and destroying vehicles and several shops.
This attack marks the fifth of its kind in recent months, following an incursion by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into Chadian territory last January that targeted an army camp and killed eight soldiers.
In March, a drone belonging to the same forces attacked a gathering of citizens during a Ramadan Iftar, killing 18 people.
A high-level Chadian delegation inspected the Bamina area of the Tine Djougaraba district in eastern Chad on Wednesday. The delegation included the district governor, the commander of the Chadian army’s Eastern Command, and representatives of the Zaghawa tribal administration, who assessed the extent of damage inflicted on citizens after a drone targeted several locations in the area.
The same drone, believed to belong to the RSF, had previously attacked locations inside the Sudanese town of Ed Damazin, which is under the control of the Sudanese army and its allies in the Joint Force, killing at least 21 civilians and injuring 31 others.
The governor of Chadian Tine said in a video recorded at one of the targeted sites that a drone attack occurred seven kilometres inside Chadian territory, injuring two children and destroying two cars near the local official’s headquarters in the administrative unit.
He reported that the drone attacked two locations inside the town, including the market in the Bamina area, burning down a number of shops.
The local official declined to accuse any of the conflicting parties in Sudan, but he called on his country’s central government to protect citizens residing along the border strip, stating that the targeted area contains no armed movement forces.
The conflict in certain border areas between Sudan and Chad has begun to take on a tribal character due to social and demographic overlap between communities living on both sides of the border, where tribal and family ties extend across the dividing line.
The border town of Tine stands out as a key flashpoint due to its strategic location and its importance as a commercial and humanitarian corridor between Darfur and eastern Chad.
Sudanese authorities accuse Chad of involvement in fueling the armed conflict by allowing the RSF to use its territory to transit weapons delivered by the United Arab Emirates via the airports of N’Djamena and Amdjarass in eastern Chad.