There was some discussion last week of enforcing a no-fly zone over Darfur. One factor in deciding whether this is worthwhile is whether or not aircraft are in use in the area; Sudanwatch and Human Rights Watch certainly think they are.
Rebel forces in Darfur definitely assert there are, as they claim to have shot down two helicopters. Naturally, the government contests this:
In a separate statement, Esam el-Din Hajj, a Darfur rebel official, said his fighters had shot down two army helicopters during the clashes.
An army spokesman confirmed heavy fighting with the National Redemption Front (NRF), but denied that the attack on the village or that any aircraft had been shot down.
He said: "We did not use any helicopters or planes during the clashes so of course they could not shoot them down.
Given prior evidence of aircraft actually being under the control of the Janjaweed militias, the army spokesman here may be working a bit of verbal deflection: We did not use any helicopters or planes (but the Janjaweed might...)
It seems like two recently downed helicopters could potentially provide good, physical evidence of the use of aircraft in the area. I wonder if AU or UN forces will get a chance to look at them.
About a thousand miles to the east, Ethiopia has recently admitted that it does have military forces operating in Somalia, including aircraft. The UN estimates Ethiopia has 8,000 troops in Somalia, while "military experts" cited by CNN estimate 15-20,000 troops. Notably, Eritrea is estimated to have 2,000 troops supported the Islamic Courts Union.