A Sudanese military aircraft crashed late Tuesday in a residential area on the outskirts of Khartoum, killing several officers and civilians on the ground.

The plane went down during takeoff from Wadi Seidna military airport in northern Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum, leaving more than 20 people dead, according to military sources cited by Reuters. The crash was likely caused by technical failure, the sources said.

Among those killed was Major-General Bahr Ahmed, a senior military commander in Khartoum.

The Sudanese military, which has been engaged in conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, confirmed in a statement that both military personnel and civilians had died but did not provide specific details.

“The injured have been taken to hospital, and firefighting teams managed to contain the blaze at the crash site,” the statement read.

Residents of northern Omdurman reported hearing a loud explosion, with the crash damaging several homes and causing power outages in surrounding neighborhoods.

The Karari Resistance Committee, part of a grassroots volunteer network providing aid in Sudan, told AFP that 10 bodies and multiple injured individuals were taken to al-Nao Hospital in Omdurman.