Drone attack on Sudan

Johannesburg — Drone attacks apparently launched by war-torn SudanRSF paramilitary forces on Wednesday appeared to derail the reopening of the capital Khartoum’s main airport after more than a year and a half.

The French news agency News said residents heard a wave of explosions early in the morning, and local media and Khartoum residents reported that drones attacked multiple areas of Khartoum on Wednesday, including near the airport.

Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced earlier this week that Khartoum International Airport would reopen on Wednesday for domestic flights after 30 months closed due to the ongoing civil war between the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) and the army.

The Reuters news agency, along with local media, cited airline sources as saying the opening had been delayed by at least several days due to drone attacks.

News themezone was unable to reach Sudanese government officials for comment Wednesday. The announcement of a pending reopening was made after several test flights, just months after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recaptured the severely damaged airport.

News cited military sources as saying a third drone attack on Khartoum in just a week had been foiled early on Wednesday, and it was unclear whether the explosions heard by residents were downed drones or if there was any damage.

RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had warned ahead of the airport’s planned reopening that his forces would shoot down any aircraft suspected of supporting the Sudanese army.

The opening of the airport was intended to show total government control of the capital. The government, led by Sovereignty Council President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, is pushing for international flights to also return to the capital.

Turkish Air, Egyptair and Etopian Airlines have resumed regular flights from Port Sudan further east, which has remained under the control of government forces. The Sudanese government and military have been pushing for those airlines to also resume international flights from Khartoum, but the resumption of domestic flights on Wednesday was going to be a key step in that direction.

The Sudanese government moved to Port Sudan when The civil war broke out in April 2023.and Burhan has been pushing to show a normalization of life in the capital ever since, encouraging Sudanese civilians to return to Khartoum and undertaking an intense six-month reconstruction campaign across the city.

Burhan is expected to return in the relatively near future to the presidential palace, which had been severely damaged during the fighting. It has asked the various government ministries to return to their headquarters in Khartoum early next year.

European diplomats are expected to visit Khartoum later this month, and FAS officials will push for Western countries to reopen their embassies.

Port Sudan has been Sudan’s only functioning international airport since the war began, despite several recent drone attacks also in the vicinity of that facility.

Residents say Khartoum has been largely calm since the Sudanese Armed Forces expelled RSF forces from the capital in March. The RSF has concentrated its military efforts since the spring on the besieged Darfur region, where it has been trying for weeks to fully capture the town of el-Fasher, the last town in Darfur not under its control.

El-Fasher has been completely surrounded, cut off from the outside world and under siege for weeks. Residents say markets are empty after the RSF built earthen dikes to surround the city, cutting off vital supplies.

The UN has warned that fighting in El Fasher has intensified, including repeated drone attacks.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said last week that El-Fasher was “under siege from all directions.”

Tens of thousands of Sudanese have died in the war and millions have been forced to flee their homes.

The conflict began as a power struggle between Hemedti and Burhan, but quickly escalated into a full-scale war between their forces, fueling what the UN says is the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

In:

• War
• Darfur
• Africa
• Civil war
• Sudan
• Buzz