Sudanese Rebels Say They Downed Fighter
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NAIROBI, Kenya — Sudanese rebels said Friday that their anti-aircraft gunners shot down a government fighter aircraft Thursday near the southern town of Juba, killing its pilot and two crewmen.
The radio of the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army, monitored in Nairobi, said the plane was shot down with a SAM-7 surfce-to-air missile during takeoff at Juba airport and crashed at Juba-Heila-Jabat, near the town.
The rebel claim came on the eve of a planned airlift of emergency food to Juba for distribution to tens of thousands of Sudanese facing starvation because of civil war.
The rebels repeated their warning to military and civilian aircraft alike “to keep off from all airspace in the war zone.”
The guerrillas have shot down at least three civilian and several military aircraft in the last 18 months.
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