AFRICA/SUDAN - The shooting down of a cargo plane sheds light on the international alliances that fuel the war

Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) - The shooting down of a Russian cargo plane over Darfur (western Sudan) sheds light on the international alliances that are fueling the Sudanese civil war that broke out in April 2023.
The plane, an "Ilyushin IL-76" belonging to a company registered in Kyrgyzstan (New Way Cargo), had taken off from Ras al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) to Amdjarass (Chad). The aircraft was shot down on October 21 over Malha in North Darfur, allegedly by a missile fired by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who mistakenly thought it was a Sudanese army plane.
The crew of this plane is usually five men. Currently, only the identities of two crew members are known: a Russian and a Kyrgyz, who was carrying an ID card identifying him as an engineer from a Kyrgyz company based in the United Arab Emirates.
The plane was en route to Amdjarass in Chad, not far from the border with Sudan, where the United Arab Emirates sends humanitarian aid to the Sudanese population using the local airport (Aéroport International Maréchal Idriss Deby), which has the longest and best paved runway in all of Chad. Humanitarian aid which, according to independent investigations, conceals arms deliveries to Sudanese paramilitaries. The Emirates are considered to be one of the sponsors of the Rapid Support Forces, which is therefore said to have made a serious mistake by shooting down the plane. The militia said in a statement that it had shot down a foreign fighter plane that was supporting the Sudanese army. They also claimed, without providing any evidence, that the plane dropped "barrel bombs" on the civilian population. The Sudanese Air Force, meanwhile, uses Antonov cargo planes, not Ilyushin (like the one shot down), as improvised combat aircraft, which drop barrels filled with explosives from the tailgate during flight.
While the Rapid Support Forces are supported by the United Arab Emirates and the Russian private military company Wagner-Group, the Sudanese army receives support from Egypt, Turkey and Iran, while the Ukrainian special forces publish videos from time to time in which their men can be seen taking action against Russian mercenaries who support the Rapid Support Forces. So, apart from the internal origin of the conflict, Sudan is also part of the "world war in pieces". (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 23/10/2024)

Share:

wars

---

---

weapons

---

---