Chad has condemned a senior Sudanese general’s threat to target its airports, calling it a “declaration of war.”

Its foreign ministry vowed to respond according to international law if a “square metre of Chadian territory is threatened”.

The warning follows comments from Lt-Gen Yasir al-Atta, the deputy commander of Sudan’s army, who said the UAE was using Chad’s airports to deliver weapons to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. UN experts have described accusations of the UAE smuggling weapons to the Rapid Support Forces through Chad as “credible”, but the UAE has denied this