Incident Summary:
04/26/2001: Five hijackers armed with grenades and guns and associated with the Ethiopian Air Force College and Bahr Dar University in Ethiopia took over a plane carrying seven crew members and 44 passengers that was heading for Addis Ababa and diverted it to Khartoum, Sudan. The hijackers wanted to speak to ambassadors from the United States and Britain. They demanded asylum in Sudan and claimed they wished to illustrate to everyone how bad conditions were in Ethiopia. After being assured they would not be extradited back to Ethiopia from officials with the Red Cross, United Nations, and the government of Sudan, the hijackers released all of the hostages. No one was injured and no damage was done. Once the incident was over, the Sudanese government suggested they would extradite the hijackers back to Ethiopia despite the negotiations they had made, where Ethiopia could execute the hijackers for their crimes.
Overview
GTD ID:
200104260004
When:
2001-04-26
Country:
Sudan
Region:
Sub-Saharan Africa
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Khartoum
City:
Khartoum
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Hijacking |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Airports and Aircraft |
Name of Entity |
An Ethiopian airplane and its passengers |
Specific Description |
An Ethiopian airplane and its passengers |
Nationality of Target |
Ethiopia |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Grenade |
Firearms |
Handgun |
Melee |
Knife or Other Sharp Object |
Weapon Details |
Sources describe the hijackers as being armed with pistols and grenades. It also seemed that they were armed with knives. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The hijackers took over the plane about ten minutes into the flight, when one of the female hijackers feigned being sick so she could get into the cockpit. The hijackers then forced the plane to divert after threatening to blow it up. Two of the hijackers were thought to be trainees with the Ethiopian Air Force College while the other three were thought to be students at Bahr Dar University in Ethiopia. This was unclear however, as one of the sources notes that all of the hijackers were thought to have failed pilot training and were sent to Bahr Dar University, where they were failing their classes. Berhanu Tegegne and Adedaw Walle were thought to be the leaders of the hijackers, and Bagemberman Tebegne was the hijackers who made the claim about the hijackers wanting everyone to see how bad conditions were in Ethiopia. The plane was carrying Ethiopian soldiers, as well as women, children, and the elderly. They claimed that many people got sick on the plane while negotiations went on in Khartoum, as the interior was very hot. According to one of the sources, one of the crew members supposedly escaped from the plane and let authorities know the hijackers were armed. After Sudanese officials negotiated for asylum for the hijackers, they claimed they would be willing to work with the Ethiopian government to extradite the hijackers back to Ethiopia, where they had the death penalty for hijackers. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Ethiopians |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Personal claim) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
5 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
5 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Mohammed Ali Saeed, "Ethiopian plane is hijacked and lands in Khartoum: airport," Agence France-Presse, April 26, 2001. |
Asha Suleiman Braima, "Ethiopian hijackers free hostages in Sudan after assurances they won't be sent home," Associated Press, April 27, 2001. |
Tsegaye Tadesse, "Pilot says hijackers threatened to blow up the plane," Reuters, April 28, 2001. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties