A Sudanese military cargo aircraft crashed while attempting to land in the country’s east, killing everyone on board, military officials said Wednesday, marking the latest in a series of deadly aviation incidents amid Sudan’s ongoing war.
The Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane went down on Tuesday at the Osman Digna Air Base in Port Sudan after suffering a technical malfunction during its landing attempt, according to two officials who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media. They did not specify the number of crew members on the aircraft.
Relatives confirmed that pilot Omran Mirghani was among those killed. His uncle, well-known Sudanese journalist Osman Mirghani, publicly mourned him on social media. The military has not issued an official statement about the crash.
Sudan’s aviation safety record has long been poor, and fatal crashes are common. In February, a military plane plummeted into a densely populated neighborhood in Omdurman, killing at least 46 people, including women and children.
The latest crash comes as the Sudanese military faces mounting losses in its conflict with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). In October, the army lost control of el-Fasher, its final foothold in Darfur, and earlier this week withdrew from the nation’s largest oil processing facility in Kordofan.
The RSF has been accused of severe abuses in el-Fasher, including executions, rape and other crimes. U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said Wednesday that investigators believe war crimes — and possibly crimes against humanity — were committed during the group’s takeover of the city.
Türk warned that similar atrocities could unfold in Kordofan as RSF attacks escalate, urging an immediate ceasefire.
The conflict, which erupted in April 2023, has killed more than 40,000 people — a figure rights groups say is a major underestimate — and pushed parts of Sudan to the brink of famine.