Strike in Sudan
Sudanese official: Israel behind raids
Sudan believes January airstrikes first attributed to US were performed by Israel on suspicion that targeted convoy was carrying weapons to Gaza
Sudan believes Israel was behind airstrikes on its soil last month that targeted weapons smugglers, apparently on suspicion the arms were destined for Hamas militants in Gaza, a senior Sudanese official said Friday.
Earlier, Sudan's State Minister for Transportation Mubarak Mabrook Saleem blamed the United States for the strikes, which he said took place a week apart in early February in a region near the Sudan-Egypt border. He said they hit smugglers trucks carrying weapons, but also trucks carrying African migrants seeking to sneak across the border.
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US officials denied involvement. On Friday, a senior Sudanese official noted the American denials, and said Khartoum suspects Israel in the attack. He spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sudan's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Osman Al-Aghbash, said the Sudanese Foreign Ministry had been in contact with Egypt and "all the concerned parties" about the strikes. But he refused to lay blame in an interview with an Islamic news web site, Islam Online, through which Sudanese officials frequently release information.
Details of the strikes remain unclear. Saleem and other Sudanese officials have spoken of casualties but have given conflicting numbers.
Al-Ray Al-Am, a Sudanese daily close to the government, reported Friday that more than 60 people were killed in the strikes, when three airplanes struck vehicles near the Sudanese-Egyptian border. It said 25 vehicles carrying migrants and weapons were destroyed.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Deng Alor told The Associated Press his country had no grounds to suspect American involvement in the attacks. Alor declined to pin the blame on Israel, saying investigation are still underway.
"We can't confirm who (was behind it)," he said. Alor said two or three strikes hit smuggling routes in eastern Sudan. Alor condemned the smuggling, saying his country "can't afford it."
Arab and US media reports said Israel was behind the attacks because the convoys were smuggling weapons to Egypt destined for Gaza.
A new Egyptian newspaper, Al-Shurooq, was the first to report on Saleem saying two convoys trying to cross into Egypt were bombed by American jets. It said there were suspicions that the convoys carried weapons for Gaza.
