Sudan is alleging that another country struck a convoy. According to the Washington Post, “foreign” planes, suspected to be American or Israeli killed hundreds of people.
Mubarak Mabrook Saleem, Sudan’s transportation minister, told the Associated Press he believed American planes were behind the bombings, which took place about a week apart in early February, and said hundreds were killed. A Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed Saleem’s account but said there were discrepancies on casualties.
The U.S. military denied any recent airstrikes in or around Sudan.
A more recent report in the New York Times gets information from American officials claiming that it was an Israeli air strike and explains why Israel would have struck the convoy.
American officials said the airstrike took place as Israel sought to stop the flow of weapons to Gaza during the weeks it was fighting a war with Hamas there.
Two American officials who are privy to classified intelligence assessments said that Iran had been involved in the effort to smuggle weapons to Gaza. They also noted that there had been intelligence reports that an operative with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had gone to Sudan to coordinate the effort.
(Press TV hasn’t updated its account from Wednesday and still blames the U.S.)
The Lede (at the NYT) covers the genesis of the story.
There still seems to be a measure of uncertainty. The Washington Post reports that the attacks occurred in February, the New York Times refers to January. There is also uncertainty as to the death toll.
Israel Matzav (via memeorandum) has a report from Israel Radio that may clear up the contradictions about the timing of the attacks.
Israel Radio reported this morning that there was an attack on a weapons ship off the Sudanese coast in recent months and that there were three or four strikes during January and February. The strike that was reported yesterday and confirmed by the New York Times today took place in January during Operation Cast Lead.
According to Israelly Cool, Hamas denies that the convoy was carrying arms. (Elder of Ziyon finds an implicit acknowledgment of Iranina aid for Hamas.)
The Weekly Standard has more.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
