A huge fire engulfs the Yarmouk ammunition factory, near Khartoum – the result of an Israeli air strike, says Sudan. Photograph: Reuters
Sudan has that Israeli air strikes caused an explosion and fire at a military factory south of the capital, Khartoum, killing two people.
The minister of information, Ahmed Belal Osman, told reporters that four aircraft hit the Yarmouk complex, setting off a huge blast that rocked the capital before dawn. "Four planes coming from the east bombed the Yarmouk industrial complex," he said. "They used sophisticated technology." He didn't elaborate further.
Belal referred to a 2009 attack on an arms convoy in the Red Sea province in eastern Sudan, which his government also blamed on Israel. "We are now certain that this flagrant attack was authorised by the same state of Israel. The main purpose is to frustrate our military capabilities and stop any development there and ultimately weaken our national sovereignty," Belal said.
He said his country has the right to respond and may take the issue to the UN security council. Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment.
At the same news conference, military spokesman Sawarmy Khaled said two people were killed and another was seriously injured in the blast. Earlier, officials said some people suffered from smoke inhalation.
The powerful blast at the complex sent exploding ammunition flying through the air, causing panic among residents.
Abdelgadir Mohammed, 31, who lives near the factory, said a loud roar of what they believed was a plane got him and his brother out of their house around midnight to investigate. "At first we thought it was more than one plane. Then we thought it was a plane crashing because of how sharp the sound was. Then we saw a flash of light, and after it came a really loud sound. It was an explosion."
Mohammed said the explosion caused panic among the residents of this heavily populated low-income neighbourhood. Many fled to open spaces, fearing their homes were collapsing. He said ammunition was flying out of the factory into the air and falling inside homes.
"It was a double whammy, the explosion at the factory and then the ammunition flying into the neighbourhood. The ground shook. Some homes were badly damaged," he said. "The walls of our home cracked, so we left our house to sleep elsewhere. When we came back this morning, our beds and furniture were covered in ashes."
Mohammed said an artillery shell fell into a neighbour's home, and a security team had to come to remove it.
Thick smoke blackened the sky over the complex, and firefighters fought the blaze for hours.
Sudanese activists on social media websites criticised the government for placing a factory with such large quantities of ammunition in a residential area.
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