Sudan: Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels said downed a military helicopter and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels attacked a government convoy
The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) rebels said Friday they downed a military helicopter near Abu Kershola where a Sudanese army top commander was on a visit to inspect the recently reclaimed area, but the army denied the rebel claims.
SRF spokesperson Abu El-Gassim Al-Haj said in a statement released today that the military plane had been downed in an attack carried by the SRF artillery forces army positions, adding that all the crew members were killed.
Gibril Adam, spokesman for the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) told Reuters its fighters had attacked a government convoy carrying Sudan’s army chief of staff, Ismat Abdelrahman, just outside Abu Kershola.
“We managed to shoot down a helicopter and hit another one,” Adam said, adding that nine people had been killed in fighting.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) spokesperson, Al-Sawarmi Khaled, in Khartoum denied the rebel statements, and said the helicopter crashed due to technical failure during combing operations carried out by the army in Abu Kershola.