Sudan has introduced its fleet of MiG-29
fighter-jets into the civil war in the south.
U.S. officials said MiG-29 aircraft have been seen flying in the
war-torn south over the last few weeks as part of training for strike rebel
targets near the Ethiopian and Ugandan borders. They said the 12 MiG-29s
ordered would mark a new capability of the Sudanese military against the
rebel Sudanese
People's Liberation Army.
Meanwhile, Sudanese air force jets resumed bombing SPLA
positions in the south, Middle East Newsline reported. Rebel sources said Sudanese warplanes bombed the
rebel-held town of Kapoeta, killing nine people. Kapoeta was captured by the
SPLA last month.
So far, the Sudanese military has not displayed the MiG-29s. In a
military parade in Khartoum over the weekend, the government displayed its
MiG-23 interceptor fleet.
Officials said the MiG-29 fighters would probably be used to destroy
SPLA anti-aircraft batteries. The rebel surface-to-air missile systems have
so far managed to ward off attacks by aging Sudanese warplanes, such as the
MiG-21 and Chinese warplanes such as the A-5 and F-6.
It is not clear whether Sudanese pilots are flying the MiG-29s.
Officials said Russian technicians and pilots have been maintaining and
flying the aircraft until training of Sudanese air force personnel is
completed.
The Washington-based International Crisis Group issued a report that the
war in Sudan could escalate as a result of Khartoum's new warplanes and
weapons. The group said Sudan has used oil revenues to buy the MiG-29s.
Sudan has also displayed indigenous tanks, armored personnel carriers
and tanks. The tanks have been named Bashir-1, Zubeir-1 and Abu Fatima-1.
They have all been modelled on the design of the Soviet-origin T-55 tank.
The Bashir-1 is said to weigh 41 tons and contains a 120 mm cannon. The
Zubeir-1 has a 105 mm cannon.
