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World Jewish News
Israel used unmanned drones to attack Sudan convoys
29.03.2009
The Israel Air Force used unmanned drones to attack secret Iranian convoys in Sudan that were trying to smuggle weapons to Palestinian militant organizations in the Gaza Strip, the London-based Sunday Times reported Sunday.
Defense officials were quoted as saying that the trucks were carrying missiles capable of striking as far as Tel Aviv and the nuclear reactor in Dimona.
The unmanned aerial vehicles attacked two convoys, killing at least 50 smugglers and their Iranian escorts, the newspaper reported. All the trucks in the convoys were destroyed.
Israel has carried out three air strikes since January against what was believed to be Iranian arms shipments passing through Sudan on their way to Gaza, the American news network ABC reported on Friday.
Earlier this week Sudanese officials confirmed that in January, in the wake of Israel's assault on Hamas-ruled Gaza, unidentified aircraft attacked a convoy of 17 trucks heading north through eastern Sudan. CBSNews reported on Thursday that the IAF was apparently behind the attack.
A U.S. official confirmed to ABC that there were actually three attacks in total. This information matches reports from Sudanese officials of two strikes on truck convoys on January 27 and February 11, and the sinking of a suspected arms ship in the Red Sea.
Israeli officials declined to confirm or deny whether Israel had been involved in an air strike in Sudan.
However, outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted on Thursday at Israel's suspected role in the reported air-strike.
"We operate everywhere where we can hit terror infrastructure - in close places, in places further away, everywhere where we can hit terror infrastructure, we hit them and we hit them in a way that increases deterrence," said Olmert, speaking at a conference in Herzliya.
Источник: haaretz
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