Yarmouk munitions factory explosion

On Tuesday 23 October 2012 at midnight local time (21:00 GMT) there was an explosion at the Yarmouk munitions factory, south of Khartoum, Sudan. The factory had been built in 1996. According to Khartoum state governor Abdel Rahman Al-Khidir the explosion probably happened at the main storage facility. The resulting fire resulted in the death of two people and one person being injured. According to Sudanese opposition, the arms factory belonged to Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Ahmed Bilal Osman, Sudanese culture and information minister, blamed this on an airstrike by four Israeli aircraft. He claimed that Sudan found unexploded Israeli rockets. Analysts say that Sudan is used as an arms-smuggling route to the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the Islamist militant organization Hamas.

According to Sunday Times, this operation "was seen as a dry run for a forthcoming attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities".

Analysis by military experts at the Satellite Sentinel Project suggested that the target may have been a batch of around 40 shipping containers, containing highly volatile cargo.

Reaction

 * 🇸🇩 Sudan Osman further said that Sudan has a "right to react" and to strike Israel. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, Sudanese ambassador to the UN, brought the case to the UN Security council. He also claimed that Israel had violated Sudanese air space three times in recent years. Three hundred people chanted outside of a government building "Death to Israel" and "Remove Israel from the map."


 * 🇮🇱 Israel On 24 October 2012 Amos Gilad, an Israeli defence official, said that "Sudan is a dangerous terrorist state" but refused to confirm an Israeli involvement.


 * 🇮🇷 Iran sent two Iranian warships to Sudan, where the fleet commanders met with Sudanese navy commanders.