Drones strike Sudanese airport ahead of reopening

The aviation hub in the country’s capital has been shut since war broke out between the state army and a paramilitary group

Drones have targeted Sudan’s main airport in the capital hours before domestic flights were due to resume for the first time in more than two years amid a brutal civil war, according to local sources.

Residents reported explosions and drone activity near Khartoum International Airport in the early hours of Tuesday. The Sudan Tribune news outlet, citing security sources, said army anti-aircraft defenses had intercepted several drones at about 4am local time. There were no immediate official statements on casualties or damage.

Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced on Monday that the airport would reopen on Wednesday after months of runway and terminal repairs and regulatory inspections. The facility has been shut since April 2023, when fighting erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

In March, Gen. Burhan, the SAF chief and Sudan’s de facto leader, declared Khartoum “free” after his soldiers recaptured the airport from the RSF.

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However, reports of attacks have persisted, with the paramilitary forces accused of striking civilian and military infrastructure in and around the capital and elsewhere in the country. According to the BBC, Tuesday’s strike was the third in Khartoum within a week, following attacks on two army bases northwest of the capital on back-to-back days last week.

Tens of thousands of people have been reported killed, millions displaced, and essential services disrupted across Sudan in hostilities that began as a power struggle between the army and a paramilitary force. Research by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates that more than 61,000 people were killed in Khartoum State alone during the first 14 months of the war. The UN human rights office says the conflict has triggered the world’s largest displacement crisis, with half the Sudanese population facing acute food insecurity.

Last week, Sudanese Energy and Oil Minister Al-Muatasim Ibrahim said the country’s transitional government is seeking reconstruction partnerships and regards Russia as a “top option” for rebuilding war-damaged energy infrastructure.

READ MORE: Russia among top options for Sudan energy sector rebuild – minister