At least 18 people were killed when a Sudanese military transport plane crashed on Thursday after takeoff from West Darfur state, reported Reuters.
According to the Sudanese military, the Antonov 12 plane crashed just five minutes after taking off from an airport in the state capital of El Geneina. The crash killed all the people on board including seven crew members, three judges and eight other civilians, including four children, the statement said.
It is not clear what caused the aircraft to crash. Army spokesman Amer Mohammed al-Hassan said that an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the crash.
El-Geneina is the capital of West Darfur and lies close to Sudan’s border with Chad. The city has seen deadly clashes between ethnic groups in recent days.
On Thursday, the Red Crescent said around 48 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in tribal fighting in Darfur. The armed clashes broke out on Sunday night in El Geneina and continued until Monday between Arab and African tribes during which several houses were torched.
The Sudanese government imposed a curfew across West Darfur on Monday and deployed troops to El Geneina to restore order. The government has launched an investigation into the bloodshed, while a delegation of senior officials visited the area.
Darfur, which is made up of five states, embroiled into conflict back in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated government of now-ousted president Omar al-Bashir, which they accused of marginalizing the region. The violent clashes left around 300,000 people dead and displaced 2.5 million others, according to the United Nations.
Bashir, who is behind bars for corruption and awaiting trial on other charges, is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in Darfur.
