The United Arab Emirates rejected on Thursday an announcement from Sudan’s armed forces a day earlier saying they had destroyed an Emirati plane carrying Colombian mercenaries, killing at least 40.

“These unfounded allegations… are entirely false, lack any evidentiary basis, and represent a continuation of (Sudan’s) ongoing campaign of disinformation and deflection,” a UAE official said to AFP regarding the incident, reported to have taken place in war-torn Sudan’s Darfur region.