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Sudan rebels claims army plane crash

Xinhua, May 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Sudanese rebel the People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)/northern sector on Sunday claimed an army plane crash on Saturday that killed five officers.

The group said their artillery fire hit an Antonov plane that was bombarding areas under the movement's control in South Kordofan, according to a spokesman.

"Our artillery caused a great fault in the plane that it could not resist despite attempts by its crew for a forced landing at El Obied airport before it crashed and burned with all its crew members," the spokesman said.

The Sudanese army on Saturday announced that one of its military planes crashed at the airport of El Obied town, some 588 km southwest of the capital Khartoum. All five crew members were killed, including three officers and two non-commissioned officers.

The plane was an Antonov freighter which crashed while landing at El Obied airport on Saturday afternoon due to a sudden technical fault, the Sudanese army said in a statement.

The SPLM/northern sector has been fighting the central government in Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas since 2011. Endit