"A military transport aircraft has gone down while attempting to land at an airbase in eastern Sudan, killing all the crew members in the war-ravaged nation. An Ilyushin Il-76 crashed on Tuesday as it approached the Osman Digna airbase in Port Sudan, near the city's main airport, two military sources told the AFP news agency, citing a technical malfunction during the landing attempt."
"On Monday, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seized control of the Heglig oilfield, Sudan's largest oil facility, in West Kordofan province after SAF abandoned their positions, according to the Sudan Tribune. Military sources told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the army was also withdrawing from Babnusa in West Kordofan, a strategic gateway that the RSF said it had taken control of in early December."
"The facility processes between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels of crude oil daily for Sudan and South Sudan, and the pipeline to Port Sudan runs through it. Ahmed Ibrahim, a former adviser to the Sudanese government, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that the attack on Heglig was part of an RSF effort to drag South Sudan, where a fragile truce between the country's dominant forces has only barely held, into the war on its side."
A military transport Ilyushin Il-76 crashed while attempting to land at the Osman Digna airbase in Port Sudan, killing all crew members after a reported technical malfunction. The SAF has not disclosed the number of people onboard. The airbase previously suffered drone strikes in May. Meanwhile the Rapid Support Forces seized the Heglig oilfield in West Kordofan after SAF abandoned positions, and forces are reportedly withdrawing from Babnusa. Heglig processes 80,000–100,000 barrels daily and feeds the Port Sudan pipeline, representing a major revenue loss for the military-aligned government. Observers warn the RSF aims to draw South Sudan into the conflict; fighting has shifted to Kordofan after el-Fasher's fall.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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