46 Killed As Sudan Military Plane Crashes In Residential Area

A Sudanese military transport plane crashed into a residential area on the outskirts of Khartoum, killing 46 people, according to the regional government’s report on Wednesday.

The Antonov aircraft crashed on Tuesday night near Omdurman, one of the largest military installations for the army, close to Wadi Seidna Air Base.

The army claimed that the plane crashed during takeoff, killing and injuring both military personnel and civilians, in a conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.

“After a final tally, the number of martyrs reached 46, with 10 injured”, the Khartoum regional government’s media office said in a statement.

At least 19 people had previously been reported dead by the army-aligned health ministry.

READ ALSO: Obasanjo, Ex-Leaders Of Kenya, Ethiopia To Lead DRC Peace Process

Witnesses described witnessing a loud explosion and seeing several homes in the area that had been damaged. The crash also caused power outages in nearby neighbourhoods.

The ministry said emergency teams rushed injured civilians, including children, to a nearby hospital.

A military source, who was not authorized to speak to the media, contacted AFP on the condition of anonymity and cited a technical malfunction as the cause of the collision.

– Army Advances –

The RSF claimed responsibility for the shooting down of an Ilyushin aircraft over Nyala, South Darfur’s capital, the day after the plane was blamed for the crash.

The paramilitary group claimed that the crew on board the plane had been killed.

In its multi-front offensive against the RSF, the army made significant advances in central Sudan and the capital Khartoum.

Late on Saturday, RSF signed a charter with allied political and armed groups in Nairobi, Kenya, paving the way for the formation of a parallel government in rebel-held areas.

Former allies of the army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy and RSF commander Mohamed Hamadan Daglo have engaged in a deadly power struggle since April 2023.

After a rift between Burhan and Daglo over the future structure of the government, the conflict broke out. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost.

According to the UN, the conflict has caused one of the worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory.

The fighting has devastated Khartoum and other major cities, displacing over 12 million, plunging the country into hunger and crippling critical infrastructure.

Source: Channels TV