Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex

Yarmouk Military Industrial Complex (YIC), also known as the Yarmouk Munitions Factory, is a military complex located in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. The complex was established in 1993 and inaugurated in 1996 with the aim of establishing advanced military industries to meet defence needs in Sudan and contribute to the transfer and localisation of modern technology and benefit from it in the field of defence. It produces rifles, pistols, launcher cannons and tanks such as Al Basheer MBT (Type 85M-II), Al Zubair 1 MBT, and Al Zubair 2 MBT, as well as Amir IFV and Amir 2 IFV armoured vehicles and self-propelled guns, as well as ammunition of various kinds.
It was managed by the General Intelligence Service, as part of the Military Industry Corporation, and it 35% owned by Iran. Personnel from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were also reported to be working there. In 2012, it was suggested that the Israeli Air Force conducted an air strike on the facility. During the 2023 Sudan conflict, the Rapid Support Forces claimed control of the complex.
2012 explosion
On 23 October 2012 at midnight local time (21:00 GMT) there was an explosion at the factory. 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.
Ahmed Bilal Osman, Sudanese culture and information minister, blamed the explosion on an airstrike by four Israeli aircraft. He claimed that unexploded Israeli rockets had been recovered. Analysts had said that Sudan was being used as an arms-smuggling route to the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the Islamist militant organization Hamas.
According to the Sunday Times, the Israeli 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
Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations, 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." Osman further said that Sudan has a "right to react" and to strike Israel.
Amos Gilad, an Israeli defence official, said that "Sudan is a dangerous terrorist state" but refused to confirm Israeli involvement.
sent two warships to Sudan, where the fleet commanders met with Sudanese navy commanders.
2023 Sudan conflict
During the 2023 Sudan conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), on 7 June, a fuel-storage facility located close to an army base and the factory caught fire during heavy fighting. On the same day the RSF claimed control of the complex. On 14 June, the SAF claimed that the RSF had begun using drones, which were believed to have come from the factory. On 17 June, 17 people, including 5 children, were killed in an SAF air strike on the factory.
See also
Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory — a pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum that was destroyed by a US cruise missile in 1998
2009 Sudan airstrikes — two alleged Israeli airstrikes in Sudan in 2009
References
External links
2012 in Sudan
Airstrikes by target
Aerial operations and battles involving Israel
October 2012 events in Africa
21st century in Khartoum
Iran–Israel proxy conflict
Israel–Sudan military relations
Airstrikes in Africa