Sudan already using new MiG-29s from Russia for Darfour strikes
Monday, November 17, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
MOSCOW — Russia has sold additional MiG-29 fighter-jets to Sudan.
Sudan said it acquired another 12 MiG-29s in 2008. Officials said this marked a followup to a Russian MiG-29 sale in 2004, when Khartoum purchased 12 such aircraft.
"Yes, it's all done," Sudanese Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein said. "The planes have been bought."
Hussein confirmed previous reports that Khartoum purchased 12 MiG-29s from Russia in May 2008. The reports said some of the aircraft had already been delivered and employed against rebels from the war-torn province in Darfour.
At a briefing in Moscow on Nov. 14, Hussein said Russia has been a reliable ally. He did not elaborate.
"We are very satisfied with our military relations with Russia," Hussein said.
In May, Russian sources and media reported that Darfour rebels shot down an MiG-29 near Khartoum. They said Moscow supplied Russian pilots to fly the MiG-29s in operations against Darfour rebels.