Heavy explosions rocked the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Tuesday night. Sudanese authorities initially offered somewhat different explanations for the cause of the explosions.
A military source told Radio Tamazuj from inside the Sudanese air defence base in the capital that the explosions were heard when anti-aircraft weapons opened fire on an Israeli warplane at around 11:00 pm. on Tuesday north of Omdurman town.
However, rumours and fears of a possible military coup d’état by senior army officials who oppose the incumbent President Omar Hassan Al Bashir circulated in the city in the absence of an immediate official explanation.
For his part, military spokesman Col. Al Sawarmi Khalid Saad stated that their anti-aircraft defenses engaged an unidentified warplane or a missile in Kereri area north of Omdurman on Tuesday night and dealt with it immediately.
“A moving object was suspected north of Omdurman town – an aircraft or missile – and the anti-aircraft dealt with it,” he told Al Sudani newspaper Wednesday. He added, however, that it may have been a false alarm. “The air defense leadership rushed to the scene to clarify it, but it was confirmed that there was no any internal or external aggression.”
Another account was given by the Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman who denied any bombings in the Khartoum area. Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this afternoon, Bilal explained that there were military trainings north of Omdurman near the barracks of air defense forces.
The anti-air units were not aware owing to lack of coordination between the different military units in the area. The anti-air units opened fire as a result of this confusion, he claimed. Bilal denied claims that there was any act of external aggression.