Intel: US concerned over Iran, Turkey, UAE-supplied drones in Ethiopia war
Ethiopia's government has rejected calls for a cease-fire after routing Tigray rebels with the help of high-tech foreign drones.
The Biden administration has expressed increasing concern with foreign arms sales to Ethiopia amid the country’s brutal civil war, with particular focus on armed drones provided by Turkey and Iran.
The United Arab Emirates has also played a role in weapons shipments to the Ethiopian government during its war against a rebel movement in the country’s northern Tigray region.
Washington’s diplomatic point man on the Ethiopia crisis, Jeffrey Feltman, raised concerns over the arms transfers with both Turkish and Emirati officials during a tour of the region over the past week and a half, according to reports by Reuters and The New York Times.
Turkey has sold Addis Ababa dozens of Bayraktar TB-2 drones after the two governments signed a deal in August. The Times reported that the UAE also conducted strikes using Chinese drones on behalf of the Ethiopian military, a practice that halted in January under US pressure but has resumed in recent months.
