Darfur rebels say they shot down govt warplane

Aug 7, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — Rebels in the Darfur region of western Sudan said they shot down a Sudanese military bomber plane on Monday while it was attacking their forces.

But in Khartoum an army spokesman denied the report. A military plane had mechanical trouble but was able to fly back to base, added the spokesman, who asked not to be named.

Ahmed Tugod Lissan, a spokesman for the rebel National Redemption Front (NRF), told Reuters from Darfur: “We shot down an Antonov An-24 airplane an hour ago in Sayah.”

Sayah is about 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Al-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and the scene of recent fighting between the NRF and the Sudan Liberation Army faction led by Minni Arcua Minawi, who has made peace with Khartoum.

The National Redemption Front is an alliance of rebels opposed to the Abuja peace agreement which Minawi and the Sudanese government signed in the Nigerian capital on 5 May.

The army spokesman said: “This is a lie. A plane belonging to the army did have a mechanical fault while in the air but it has managed to return safely to Al-Fasher.”

Lissan said the plane had been bombing NRF forces near Sayah since Monday morning in support of Minnawi’s forces, and the rebels shot it down with anti-aircraft missiles.

He said Sudanese government forces had intervened after the NRF on Sunday attacked a military base belonging to Minnawi’s forces in Sayah and chased them out.

In the operation, the rebels captured 12 Toyota Land Cruisers, the vehicle of choice in the arid region, he said.

Lissan said rebel forces were trying to find the remains of the bomber crew but the plane was in pieces over a large area.

(Reuters)