Turkish Evacuation Plane Shot At By Paramilitary Forces While Landing At Khartoum: Report

Turkey's defence ministry confirmed that a Turkish evacuation plane was fired at and said there were no injuries. However, RSF denied firing at the plane and said that the army was "spreading lies".

Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) despite the ceasefire in Khartoum

Source : Getty Images

New Delhi: Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shot at a Turkish evacuation plane, damaging its fuel system, as it was landing at Wadi Seyidna airport outside Khartoum on Friday, Sudan's army said, as reported by news agency Reuters.

According to the report, Turkey's defence ministry confirmed that a Turkish evacuation plane was fired at and said there were no injuries. However, the RSF denied firing at the plane and said that the army was "spreading lies".

"Our forces have remained strictly committed to the humanitarian truce that we agreed upon since midnight, and it is not true that we targeted any aircraft in the sky of Wadi Seyidna in Omdurman," the RSF said in a statement.

The Sudanese army said that the plane was being repaired.

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Meanwhile, violence rocked the capital Khartoum again and the western region of Darfur even as Sudan’s two warring factions on Thursday said that they would prolong a ceasefire agreement by 72 hours.

The conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary RSF has led to hundreds dying while tens of thousands of people fled for their lives in two weeks of conflict, according to reports.

According to Reuters, the Sudanese Army on Wednesday said that it agreed to a new three-day ceasefire through Sunday after one that was to expire on Thursday night. On Thursday, the military maintained that it would extend the truce and said it would honour it unilaterally.

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Responding for the first time, the RSF also said on Thursday that it approved another 72-hour truce starting Friday. The United Nations, African Union, African trade bloc IGAD  and several nations welcomed the development including countries like the U.S., U.K., Saudi Arabia, and UAE.