Sudanese paramilitary mistakenly shoots down UAE cargo plane Crew from Russia, Kyrgyzstan dead in crash

The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) today at approximately 04:00 shot down a cargo airplane in the Malha area of North Darfur, claiming that they had eliminated an Antonov airplane used as a bomber by the Sudanese military.

However, evidence from the wreckage suggests that this airplane actually was part of an airlift sponsored by the United Arab Emirates in support of the RSF itself. Jubilant fighters on the ground who filmed the wreckage seemed not to have realized that they had shot down a cargo plane used for their own supply and logistics.

Ali Rizkallah ‘Savannah,’ a prominent RSF commander in North Darfur, appeared in one video at the scene of the crash (below), saying they had used “guided missiles” to bring down the “Egyptian Antonov.” (This rhetoric follows the lead of the RSF commander-in-chief, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who recently accused the “treacherous Egyptian Air Force” of bombing his troops).

In fact, the wreckage is that of an Ilyushin-76, and one of the crew members was carrying a crew badge (in the video below) identifying him as the main engineer for “Airline Transport Incorporation FZC,” a company based in the United Arab Emirates, with has ties to Kyrgyzstan. The crewman’s badge said “Manas International Airport,” which is the main international airport of Kyrgyzstan.

Another crewman had a Russian passport. Although these documents survived the wreck, there were no reported surviving crew, and the aircraft was largely incinerated, creating a large impact crater. The typical IL-76 crew has five members.

Another piece of wreckage belonged to New Way Cargo Airlines, which has taken part in a UAE airlift to Amdjarass in eastern Chad, according to a recent investigation by the Conflict Observatory, a research consortium funded by the U.S. State Department.

Conflict Observatory identified several Kyrgyz Ilyushin-76 aircraft involved in the UAE’s airlift to Amdjarass, Chad, including two operated by New Way Cargo Airlines (EX-76010 and EX-76015), which has aircraft based in Ras al-Khaima, UAE.

In total, the investigation identified seven flights by known cargo planes and an additional 35 unidentified cargo flights to Amdjarass Airport between June 2023 and May 2024, when the research period ended. The UAE claims this airlift was for humanitarian purposes, but the researchers at Conflict Observatory said almost certainly the cargo plaines were bringing military supplies, corroborating previous findings by other sources, including a UN Panel of Experts, and The New York Times.

Conflict Observatory noted that one of New Way Airlines’s airplanes previously took part in an airlift supporting General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army forces in violation of a Security Council arms embargo, according to a UN report. The UAE’s arms deliveries to Darfur likewise violate an arms embargo, which the Security Council imposed in 2004 during the previous war in Darfur.

Additionally, unidentified cargo planes have landed recently in Nyala, South Darfur, which observers have speculated were bringing supplies and evacuating wounded RSF fighters. The last such flight landed at Nyala Airport four nights ago, according to eyewitnesses living in the Jabal neighborhood.

RSF troops in North Darfur likely would not have known anything about secret nighttime flights in South Darfur coordinated by the paramilitary’s leadership. Instead, they would have been on the lookout for Sudanese Air Force warplanes, which have routinely carried out bombings in North Darfur against both civilians and RSF targets.

Sudan’s civil war began in April 2023 between the Sudanese military and its former ally, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which originated as a collective of ethnic Arab militias in Darfur. The war has gutted the nation’s capital, displaced a quarter of the population, wrecked the economy, and plunged parts of Sudan into famine.