Khartoum: Forty-six people were killed on Wednesday, February 26, when a Sudanese military transport plane crashed into a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum, according to a statement from the regional government.
The Antonov aircraft went down late Tuesday night near the Wadi Seidna air base, one of the army’s largest military hubs located in Omdurman, northwest of the capital.
The Sudanese military, which has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, confirmed that the plane crashed during takeoff. Both military personnel and civilians were killed and injured in the incident.
The Khartoum regional government’s media office confirmed the death toll, stating, “After a final tally, the number of martyrs reached 46, with 10 injured.” This figure surpasses an earlier report from the army-aligned health ministry, which had reported at least 19 dead.
Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion and saw several homes in the area damaged. The crash also caused power outages in surrounding neighborhoods. Emergency teams swiftly transported injured civilians, including children, to nearby hospitals.
A military source, speaking anonymously to AFP, suggested that a technical malfunction may have been the cause of the crash, as they were not authorized to comment on the incident.
The tragic crash comes amid escalating tensions between the army and the RSF, as the military has made significant gains in central Sudan and in the capital, Khartoum, as part of its multi-front offensive against the RSF. On Saturday, the RSF signed a charter with allied political and armed groups in Nairobi, Kenya, which could pave the way for the formation of a parallel government in areas controlled by rebels.
Since April 2023, Sudan’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, RSF commander Mohamed Hamadan Daglo, have been engaged in a deadly power struggle.
This conflict, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives, erupted after a rift over the future structure of the Sudanese government.
The war has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, according to the United Nations, displacing more than 12 million people, causing widespread hunger, and crippling critical infrastructure.
