Shots fired at Turkish evacuation plane in Sudan

A Turkish military plane on a mission to evacuate Turkish citizens from conflict-hit Sudan has come under gunfire, the Turkish National Defense Ministry revealed.

The plane, Turkish C-130, headed to Wadi Seidna Air Base for evacuation of its citizens in Khartoum, came under small arms fire, a Turkish ministry said in a statement on Friday.

However, the plane landed safely, and no injuries were reported, the statement added, according to TRTWorld.

Reacting to the report, the Sudanese army accused the paramilitary, Rapid Support Forces, of shooting at the Turkish military jet.

But the RSF denied firing at the plane insisting that the Sudanese 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 Seidna in Omdurman.

“How can it be reasonable for our forces to attack a Turkish evacuation plane while it was us who protected the mission in recent days and helped evacuations in all districts of the capital,” the RSF said in a statement.

In spite of the development however, the Turkish ministry revealed that “the first group of our citizens was safely brought to Türkiye by planes belonging to the Turkish Armed Forces.”