{"id":838961,"date":"2026-11-13T00:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T05:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=838961"},"modified":"2026-11-13T00:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T05:30:00","slug":"osint-analyst-says-uae-linked-il-76-cargo-planes-were-parked-at-gondar-airport-in-amhara-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/838961","title":{"rendered":"OSINT analyst says UAE linked Il-76 cargo planes were parked at Gondar airport in Amhara for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An<\/figure>\n

An annotated satellite image of Gondar Atse Tewodros Airport in Amhara that AfriMEOSINT posted on X on November 12, 2026, marking what it identifies as Il-76 cargo aircraft on November 1 and 3, based on Copernicus Sentinel-2 data. Credit: AfriMEOSINT (@AfriMEOSINT) on X, from Copernicus Sentinel-2 data.<\/em><\/p>\n

An open source analyst who tracks flights in the Horn of Africa says satellite images show at least two UAE linked Il-76 cargo planes parked at Gondar’s airport in Amhara on November 1 and 3.<\/p>\n

The account AfriMEOSINT, which posts flight tracking and satellite analysis on Ethiopia and the Red Sea region, wrote on Thursday that it was the first time it had confirmed aircraft of this kind at Gondar Atse Tewodros Airport. It said the planes are linked to the government of the United Arab Emirates, and it noted that the airport lies close to Tigray and to Ethiopia’s borders with Sudan and Eritrea.<\/p>\n

In a second post, the account shared images from August, September and October that it said show work on the main runway since September, which it believes widened and strengthened the runway for heavy cargo planes such as the Il-76. The image of the parked planes is labeled as Sentinel-2 data, freely available pictures from European satellites that are too coarse to show markings or registration numbers, so the identification rests on the analyst’s reading of size and shape and on its wider flight tracking.<\/p>\n

For weeks the same account has logged what it describes as a UAE military cargo airlift to Ethiopia. On Thursday morning it listed four more flights leaving Al Reef and Al Dhafra air bases in the UAE, run by Vise Air, Invicta Air and Southern Spirit Airlines, and last week it said a UAE linked Il-76TD had been seen at Asosa Airport in Benishangul Gumuz, an airport that it said has reportedly been used to move weapons and fighters to the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan.<\/p>\n

Gondar is the largest city in northwest Amhara, where government forces have fought Fano forces since August 2023. The posts do not say what the planes carried or where any cargo went. Mereja Media found no statement from the Ethiopian government, the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority or the UAE about the flights or the runway work by Thursday evening, and the findings have not been independently confirmed.<\/p>\n

Sudan’s army led government has accused Ethiopia of letting the Rapid Support Forces use its territory, a charge Addis Ababa rejects, Reuters reported this month after Sudan filed complaints at the UN Security Council and the African Union. Mereja Media has reported on two Su-35 fighters for Ethiopia in flight trials as cargo flights from the UAE continued<\/a> and on another UAE linked cargo jet tracked to Harar Meda<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n