Sudan Rebels Shoot Down Russian Crewed Il-76

[FD2]

Sudan rebels ‘shoot down own plane with Russians on board’

Crash site evidence suggests jet was linked to UAE efforts to arm rebels in the civil war

Ben Farmer https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/ ... civil-war/
22 October 2024 3:01pm BST

A military plane thought to be carrying two Russian crew was downed by Sudanese paramilitary rebels.

Fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said they had used an anti-aircraft missile to shoot down a government cargo jet in the western North Darfur state.

However, the attack appears to be a case of mistaken identity as evidence from the crash site suggests the plane was linked to an effort by the United Arab Emirates to arm the rebels in the civil war.

Video footage from the crash site appeared to show identity documents including a Russian passport and an ID that linked back to a UAE-based company.

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The clips also showed RSF forces showing off the burning wreckage.

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Local media reported that the plane’s crew of two Russians and three Sudanese were killed when it crashed in Sudan’s Malha region, near the border with Chad.

Russia’s embassy in Khartoum confirmed its diplomats were investigating the incident, adding that Russians may have been onboard at the time.

Sudan’s 18-month-long civil war has descended into a tangled geopolitical free-for-all, as competing powers have piled in to secure their own interests.

Russia has been accused of backing the RSF rebels through its Wagner mercenaries, but then latterly also pivoting to throw its weight behind the opposing government forces.

Moscow is thought to be hedging its bets in the hope of backing a winner who can give it a port on the Red Sea and access to gold mines.

The incident happened as Vladimir Putin welcomed world leaders including China’s Xi Jinping, and India’s Narendra Modi to a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies to set out a foreign policy for defying the Western liberal order.

The UAE is accused of being the main backer of the RSF in the Sudanese civil war, though it denies providing support to the rebels.

A safety card, also purportedly from the aircraft, identified the plane as an Ilyushin Il-76 flown by New Way Cargo of Kyrgyzstan.

The group Conflict Observatory, which is funded by the US State Department and has been monitoring the Sudan war, linked two New Way Cargo Ilyushin Il-76s to arming the RSF in a report this month.

The group said the airline had facilitated Emirati arms transfers through flights to an airport in Amdjarass, Chad. The UAE has said the flights are providing aid to a local hospital.

Sudan’s civil war is believed to have killed over 24,000 so far. The Sudanese army has been pursuing an intensified offensive near Khartoum, while forces allied with it have been battling the RSF in Darfur.