Israel Matzav

Israel bombs weapons in Sudan again?

A report in a Sudanese newspaper claims that Israel bombed vehicles smuggling weapons through Sudan twice this month. The Sudanese government is denying the report.

Sudanese newspaper al-Intibaha reported last week that the Israeli Air Force attacked vehicles in South Sudan, Ynet learned on Sunday. The report speculated on whether the targeted vehicles had been serving arms smugglers.

The newspaper claimed that the first of two attacks was carried out on December 15. The IAF allegedly bombed two land cruiser vehicles killing four passengers. The second attack was reportedly carried out on December 18. A car had been bombed and all its passengers killed. It was also reported that an Israeli apache plane landed in an area where South Sudanese army radar stations are located.

The report could not be verified and was denied by official Sudanese elements. South Sudan's army spokesman said he could not confirm the report.

As you may recall, there have been similar attacks against weapons convoys in the Sudan over the past two years. The Sudan is commonly used as a smuggling route with weapons moving up the coast through Egypt and the Sinai to Gaza.

JPost adds:

In another incident in early December Israeli planes were reported to have been spotted over some islands near Sudan.

Arabic news outlet Dar al-Hayyat on Sunday reported "conflicting information" coming out of Sudan regarding alleged Israeli air strikes. According to that report, the governor of Sudan's Red Sea State district recently received notification from several citizens in the region that the IAF had raided smuggler convoys, in Abu Thabaq in the disputed Hala'ib triangle, but according to Dar al-Hayyat, the regional government noted it has no official information regarding whether Red Sea State hospitals received any dead or wounded in the alleged attacks.

According to Sudanese newspaper al-Rakoba, last November Israeli air strikes targeted a convoy of vehicles near Sudan's border with Egypt, in Wadi Allaqi in the Hala'ib triangle region, an area whose ownership is disputed between Egypt and Sudan.

That raid allegedly hit and destroyed two cars, a Land Cruiser and a Toyota Hilux, killing two people and wounding several more, who fled in the direction of the Sudanese border, according to al-Rakoba. The report also said that eyewitnesses reported several people missing after the alleged raid, and also that the Egyptian air force flew over the area several times.

Heh.

Labels: IAF, Sudan, weapons smuggling

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:56 PM