Unidentified white chopper flies over Darfur villages – UNAMID

By Daniel Van Oudenaren

September 23, 2008 (WASHINGTON) — A white helicopter not marked with the UN emblem or any identifiable markings was seen Monday flying over a southern area of North Darfur state, where the majority of villages are controlled by the rebel Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) faction led by Abdel Wahid Al-Nur.

White government aircraft have previously attacked civilians in both the current conflict in Darfur and during Sudan’s 1983-2005 civil war. A September 2007 report to the UN Security Council by a five-person panel of experts revealed that white-painted government military planes were used for aerial surveillance, arms shipments and attacks on villages.

Consistent use of white aircraft for military operations could make them a more likely target for rebel fighters, thus raising the danger for UN aircrews. Rebels from both SLA and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) have already demonstrated their ability to down helicopters in multiple confirmed instances.

A helicopter of the hybrid peacekeeping force was shot at in western Darfur on Aug. 11, and another was damaged by gunfire on Sept. 14 as it was on its way to Shangil Tobaya from Tawila town, about 37 km before Shangil Tobaya UNAMID base camp.

In this instance on Monday, the helicopter appears to have been scouting an area southeast of Kabkabiya. According to the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission (UNAMID), the aircraft flew over the eastern part of Sortoni UNAMID Base Camp, then up to Samra, Bessi and Aramba villages.

The helicopter came from east of UNAMID Sortoni Base Camp and flew back towards the east where it had came from. About 40 minutes later, the same flight came back from the same direction, flew over Tui village and continued towards Kabkabiya.

The United Nations has in the past urged the Sudanese government not to use white aircraft that resemble its own, saying it endangers the peacekeepers. The UN Panel of Experts’ 2007 report described multiple sightings of white helicopters in Darfur during 2007.

The report described two white Mi-171 helicopters painted with military registrations, neither of which displayed a Sudanese flag painted on the aircraft. “The Panel believes this is a method to further conceal their identity so that from a moderate distance they resemble United Nations or AMIS Mi-8 helicopters used in Darfur.”

Photos from the report, all dated from 2007, show a white Fantan A-5 helicopter at Nyala airport, a white Mi-24 at Khartoum International Airport, a white Antonov (An-12) plane at El-Geneina, a white Antonov (An-26) with UN markings at El Fasher, and another white Antonov (An-26) at Khartoum airport.

The UN Panel of Experts said, “the extensive use of white aircraft by the Government of the Sudan, including the use of white Antonov aircraft in some of the 66 aerial attacks catalogued by the Panel between September 2006 and July 2007, constitutes a serious obstruction to the work of AMIS and the United Nations.

“In one instance the Panel found that the Government of the Sudan had used a white Antonov aircraft with ‘UN’ markings in offensive military overflights.”

A Security Council resolution prohibits Sudan from conducting offensive military flights in and over the Darfur region.

(ST)