Israeli F-16 fighter jets
Israeli F-16 fighter jetsIsrael News Photo: (file)

A Sudanese government minister claims that Israel killed 119 people when an unidentified aircraft attacked a convoy of vehicles along the Egyptian border in January, Sudan’s state-run Suna news agency reports. The new number of casualties is much higher than the March number of 39 deaths, also given by a Sudanese official.

In a report to Parliament, Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Muhammad Hussein stated that 56 smugglers and 63 civilians who were smuggled from Ethiopia, Somalia, and other countries were killed in the strike. He added that the investigation was done in cooperation with Sudan’s Foreign Ministry.

The CBS television network reported earlier that Israeli intelligence identified a convoy northwest of the city of Port Sudan making its way north. The bombing was done near Har Al-Shaanun. According to that report, 17 trucks were bombed in Israel’s attack.

Israeli officials told TIME magazine in March that Israeli F-16 fighter planes made two runs on the Iranian convoy while F-15 planes served as air cover to protect against a possible counter-attack during the 1,750 mile (2,800 km) journey to Sudan and back. The air force planes refueled over the Red Sea in midair.

Israel was told by an informant of a major delivery from Iran to Gaza via Sudan. The tip-off gave Israel less than a week to pull their plan together, according to a source. “This was the first time that the Iranians had tried to send Hamas a shipment this big via Sudan – and it is probably the last,” the source said.

Israeli officials previously have warned that an international network of terrorists is behind the supply of weapons from Iran to Hamas through Yemen and Sudan. The weapons include anti-tank missiles and explosives.

Israel ended the Operation 'Cast Lead' counterterrorist campaign again the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza in mid-January on condition that Western powers help stop the flow of weapons to Hamas.