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A Sudanese military transport aircraft crashed on Tuesday while attempting to land at an air base in the eastern part of the country, killing all members of its crew, two military sources told Agence France-Presse.
A military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said that “a technical malfunction caused the crash of an Il-type cargo plane belonging to the army as it attempted to land at the Digna Air Base.”
A second military source reported that “all crew members aboard the Il-76 aircraft were killed.”
The Sudanese army has not disclosed the number of personnel on board the military plane, and no official casualty toll has been issued.
The Il-76 cargo aircraft, designed in the former Soviet Union, has long served as a backbone of the Sudanese military and is used to transport supplies and personnel across front-line areas.
In February, a Sudanese military aircraft of the Russian-made Antonov type crashed just minutes after taking off from Wadi Sayidna Military Airport, west of Omdurman, the other half of the capital, Khartoum, resulting in the deaths of several military personnel and civilians.
According to a statement issued by the Sudanese army at the time, the plane “crashed during its nighttime takeoff from Wadi Sayidna Airport and fell in residential Block 75, causing the deaths of several military personnel and civilians, while several others were injured and transported to a hospital for treatment.”
This incident comes at a time when Sudan is grappling with one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises as the war between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces continues.
The conflict, ongoing since April 2023, has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly 12 million others inside the country or forced them to flee abroad.
It has also led to the destruction of critical infrastructure.
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