A Sudanese military transport plane crashed into a residential neighborhood on the outskirts of Khartoum, killing 46 people, including military personnel and civilians.
The Antonov aircraft went down near Wadi Seidna air base, one of the army’s largest military hubs in Omdurman, northwest of the capital. The crash occurred during takeoff, causing widespread destruction and power outages in nearby neighborhoods.
Witnesses described hearing a loud explosion and seeing several homes damaged in the area. Emergency teams rushed injured civilians, including children, to a nearby hospital. The regional government’s media office reported that 10 people were injured in the crash.
A military source cited a technical malfunction as the cause of the crash, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity. The incident is the latest in a series of tragic events to affect Sudan, which has been embroiled in a deadly conflict between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023.
The conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, displaced over 12 million people, and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters in recent memory, according to the United Nations. The fighting has devastated Khartoum and other major cities, plunging the country into hunger and crippling critical infrastructure.
The crash came a day after the RSF claimed responsibility for shooting down a Russian-made Ilyushin aircraft over Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. The paramilitary group said the plane was destroyed with its crew onboard. The recent escalation follows significant advances by the army in central Sudan and the capital Khartoum in its multi-front offensive against the RSF.
