The Jerusalem Post on Monday reported sources in Khartoum claiming that Israeli forces struck a Sudanese weapons arsenal which held long-range missiles for Hamas.
The UK-based newspaper Al-Arab reported that the Sudanese government would not confirm the incident, hoping to cover up its relations with the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. Such ties could entangle the country’s president Omar al-Bashir with an accusation of supporting terrorism from the US and Western nations.
The attack came only hours after Israel accused the Sudanese government of storing long range missiles for Hamas.
Witnesses claimed to have seen a “huge explosion” and billows of smoke at the scene. Six people were allegedly wounded in the attack.
Sudanese security forces claimed that the huge explosion in a weapons arsenal was the result of a fire. The Sudanese Army Spokesman Khaled Sa’ad denied all connections in the incident to an attack by foreign forces.
Two weeks before the alleged Israeli strike, Sudan’s President al-Bashir was seen meeting with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal in Qatar.
Sudan has long been suspected of being a way station for arms being shipped from Iran to its client Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Arms shipments and factories in Sudan have reportedly been struck by Israel in the past. In 2009, Israel reportedly struck a Gaza-bound convoy of trucks bearing arms for Hamas. An arms factory was reportedly hit by Israel in 2012.
In March of this year, Israel intercepted the Klos-C, a ship with arms destined for Gaza, just off of Port Sudan in the Red Sea. The arms were determined by Israel to have been shipped by Iran for transfer through Sudan to Hamas.