The mystery surrounding a cargo plane crash in Sudan intensified on Tuesday, as authorities revealed the aircraft had been de-registered in Kyrgyzstan. The Ilyushin Il-76, reportedly shot down by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) over war-torn Darfur, raises questions about who was operating the plane late at night.
The aircraft had previously been linked to allegations of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arming the RSF, a claim the UAE denies despite mounting evidence. The plane’s crash on Monday highlights the ongoing chaos in Sudan since the RSF and the military began fighting in April 2023, a conflict that has claimed over 24,000 lives, displaced millions, and left many on the brink of starvation.
Video footage posted online shows RSF fighters near the plane’s wreckage, claiming responsibility for downing it with a surface-to-air missile. Identity documents found at the crash site included a Russian passport and an ID card connected to a UAE-based company, whose contact details have since been disconnected. The Russian Embassy in Sudan has launched an investigation into the incident.
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A safety card from the wreckage indicated that the plane belonged to New Way Cargo of Kyrgyzstan. However, Zuurakan Kadyrova, a representative of New Way Cargo, stated that their lease on the aircraft expired at the end of 2023, and they have no further records of its activities since. She expressed condolences to the crew and their families.
Kyrgyz authorities confirmed that the plane had been removed from their registry in January 2024 and transferred to Sudan’s registry. No Kyrgyz nationals were involved in the crash.
The RSF maintains that the aircraft was operated by the Sudanese military, allegedly flying “jihadist militia groups.” The RSF claims to have retrieved the plane’s black box, along with key documents revealing its operations, but these have not been made public.
Sudan’s instability has deepened since the ousting of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A brief attempt at transitioning to democracy was cut short by a military coup in October 2021, led by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo of the RSF, who are now at war with each other. Al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide at the International Criminal Court, used the Janjaweed militias—now evolved into the RSF—to commit atrocities in Darfur, and reports suggest similar ethnic violence is once again occurring.
A recent report by Conflict Observatory, a group monitoring the war in Sudan, linked New Way Cargo’s Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft to weapons transfers from the UAE to the RSF. These arms reportedly arrived via Chad’s Aéroport International Maréchal Idriss Deby, near where the plane was shot down. The UAE claims the flights were for humanitarian aid, supporting a local hospital.
As Sudan’s conflict rages on, officials from the Sudanese government, currently based in Port Sudan, have yet to comment on the incident. Meanwhile, humanitarian conditions continue to deteriorate, with over 25 million people—about half of Sudan’s population—now in need of urgent assistance. “Sudanese children are surviving bombs and bullets, only to face the threat of starvation and disease,” said Mohamed Abdiladif, interim country director for Save the Children in Sudan.
