False claim of UAE aircraft being forced to land in Sudan debunked

Dubai: A claim circulating across Sudanese social media accounts that a UAE cargo aircraft was forced to land in North Darfur is not supported by photographic evidence, with images and footage presented in connection with the claim found to be old and unrelated.

According to the circulating claim, a UAE cargo aircraft entered Sudanese airspace before being surrounded by fighter jets and forced to land in North Darfur. The aircraft was also alleged to have been carrying weapons, equipment and mercenaries.

However, no official statement confirming the claim has been issued, and no photographs have been presented showing the aircraft after the alleged landing, its crew or the alleged cargo.

More importantly, the image circulated as evidence undermines the claim itself.

The image does show UAE aircraft 1227, but it was not taken in Sudan and is not recent. It was photographed in Dubai in 2013 during the Dubai Airshow, around 13 years before the claim appeared.

Circulated tracking data also showed aircraft 1227 over Omani airspace less than two hours before claims emerged that it had been detained in Sudan.

An old image taken in Dubai was therefore used out of context as ‘evidence’ of an incident in Darfur.

The claim also raises a number of unanswered questions: If the aircraft was forced to land, where is the aircraft? Where is the cargo? Where is the crew? And where is the evidence?

Another clip was also recirculated showing a civilian aircraft surrounded by four fighter jets, as if it were connected to the alleged incident.

However, the clip does not document the incident. It had already been debunked in January 2025 and had been online since January 23 from outside Sudan.

The footage was therefore old and reused out of context.So far, what exists is a claim repeated across multiple accounts without supporting evidence. The number of accounts repeating a rumour does not establish it as fact.