As the internal conflict between Ethiopia's government and #Tigray forces continues, accusations have been made that Emirati armed #drones are launching attacks from a base in nearby Eritrea. Does that claim hold true? We checked with @planetlabs imagery: https://www.bellingcat.com/news/rest-of-world/2020/11/19/are-emirati-armed-drones-supporting-ethiopia-from-an-eritrean-air-base/

Drones are not new to this part of the world. In fact, since 2015, Chinese-made drones have been spotted on satellite images of the Assab Air Base in Eritrea. The facility is used by the UAE for its military campaign in #Yemen.

New satellite imagery shows an Emirati Wing Loong II drone at the Assab base. But Ethiopia has its own jet fighters, and open-source information confirms their use. As the UAE has no bone to pick with either side, the prospect of its drones in the conflict zone looks unlikely.

According to some media reports, Ethiopia has acquired Chinese-made CH-4 armed drones. However, we were not able to find evidence of their use nor their presence at known air bases through available satellite imagery. As always, we'll keep looking. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/05/10/china-trump-middle-east-drone-wars/