Sudanese military helicopter crashes near Ethiopian border

A Sudanese military helicopter loaded with weapons and ammunition crashed Wednesday shortly after taking off from an airport in an eastern province that borders Ethiopia, officials said.

The Apache attack helicopter exploded after crashing at Wad Zayed airport in the town of al-Showak in al-Qadarif province, but the three-person crew survived the crash, the Sudanese officials said.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.In the past two months, Sudan’s military has deployed troops to the border areas with Ethiopia and said it has reclaimed territories controlled by Ethiopian militias and farmers for many years.

Ethiopian and allied regional forces have been fighting Tigray regional forces since early November and attacks over the border into Sudan last month have strained ties between the neighboring countries.

The Tigray fighting has sent over 60,000 Ethiopian refugees into Sudan, mostly into al-Qadarif province.

At least five Sudanese women and a child were killed in an attack Monday inside Sudan by Ethiopian militias, the Sudanese foreign ministry said.

Sudan's state-run SUNA news agency reported that the helicopter crashed directly after taking off. The report said the plane hit the ground and caught fire.Aircraft crashes are not uncommon in Sudan, which has a poor aviation safety record.

In January last year, a military plane, a Russian Antonov An-12, crashed in the restive West Darfur region, killing all 16 people on board, including two women and two children.In 2003, a civilian Sudan Airways plane crashed into a hillside while trying to make an emergency landing, killing 116 people, including eight foreigners. Only a small boy survived the crash.

Wednesday's crash came as Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan was in al-Qadarif to inspect troops stationed in the border areas, the military said.

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)