Reports of missile strike on Sudan weapons facility tied to Israeli drone

Special to WorldTribune.com

Unconfirmed reports say Israel launched an air strike on a weapons facility in Sudan on May 6, while the Sudanese Army claims it shot down an Israeli drone.

Fire rages at the Yarmouk arms complex in Khartoum.
Fire rages at the Yarmouk arms complex in Khartoum in 2012.

According to Arab media reports, a missile attack was carried out against the facility in Sudan’s Omdurman area. The Sudan Tribune said that witnesses reported seeing flames from their houses a few miles away and that the ground shook.

Col. Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad, Sudanese Army spokesman, said the military took out an Israeli drone armed with two missiles which entered Sudanese air space from the east.

Israel is said to have been for a number of years monitoring possible sites where Iran may be producing weapons that could threaten Israel’s security.

Sudan is included in that monitoring and, if reports on the May 6 attack are confirmed, it would not be the first time Israel may have struck in Sudan.

In October 2012, the Israelis allegedly hit an Iranian missile factory in Yarmouk, near Khartoum.

The latest reports also come in the wake of recent claims that the Israeli Air Force struck Scud missile depots in Syria. The missiles were said to have been awaiting transport to Lebanon to add to Hizbullah’s arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon gave a clear reason for possible Israeli strikes on Syrian weapons depots. He said the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hizbullah seek to smuggle weapons “in every way and through every route, while being aware of the red lines set by the State of Israel, and that Israel has no intention of compromising over them. We will not allow the transfer of quality weapons to terrorist organizations, chief among them Hezbollah, and we will know how to reach those who send them [the weapons] at any time and place.”

Reports in recent years also have claimed Israel struck convoys of trucks allegedly delivering missiles from Sudan to the Gaza Strip via Egypt.

Observers questioned the timing of the reports out of Sudan as Iran’s ally, the Bashar Assad regime, has suffered a series of setbacks while Hizbullah has launched a new offensive against Sunni rebels in Syria.

Israel’s round-the-clock monitoring of possible threats is said to include the use of submarines, long-range intel flights, drones and satellites.

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