A Turkish evacuation plane was fired at in Sudan on Friday, with the Sudanese army claiming the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that it is battling were responsible.
The
aircraft was landing at Wadi Seyidna airport north of Khartoum as part of
efforts to evacuate Turkish citizens from the war-torn country.
Turkey’s
defence ministry said light weapons were fired at its C-130 evacuation plane.
The
Sudanese army earlier said that a member of the crew was wounded in the incident
and fuel supplies were damaged. But the Turkish defence ministry later said
no-one was harmed.
“Our
plane landed safely. Although there are no injuries to our personnel, necessary
controls are also carried out on our aircraft,” it said.
Turkish
sources familiar with the evacuation told Middle East Eye that Ankara informed
both the army and the RSF before beginning its air evacuation operation.
More
than 400 people have been killed since violence broke out on 15 April between
the Sudanese army and RSF over plans to integrate the paramilitary force into
the regular military as part of a transitional political deal.
For
the past three days the warring parties had agreed to uphold a ceasefire,
although sporadic fighting has persisted.
On
Thursday evening, there were clashes around Wadi Seyidna airport after RSF
forces seized areas northwest of Khartoum, such as Bahri and Omdurman, and
fighting here continues.
Turkish
sources said that plane was probably fired at by individual RSF units that may
not have been aware of the evacuation plans.
Small
arms fire does not normally damage these types of aircraft unless it comes from
close range or hits unprotected areas on the main fuselage, such as the cabin
window, the sources said.
They
added that it would not normally prevent the plane from taking off and landing.
However,
images circulating online purportedly showed what appeared to be a bullet hole
and leaking fuel.
The
Turkish sources said they would establish whether the attack came from close
range after making thorough inspections.
However,
they also said that the evacuation would continue and be completed as planned
as there is no major damage to the military cargo plane.
The
RSF denied opening fire on the plane and said the Sudanese army was “spreading
lies”.
“Our
forces have remained strictly committed to the humanitarian truce that we
agreed upon since midnight, and it is not true that we targeted any aircraft in
the sky of Wadi Sayedna in Omdurman, which is an area not under the control of
our forces and we do not have any forces in its proximity,” it said on Twitter.
“We
have played an active role in ensuring the safe evacuation of the Turkish
mission from all the cities of the capital over the past days, and it would be
unreasonable to attack a Turkish evacuation plane.
Post a Comment