Drone attack in Sudan threatens Khartoum airport’s reopening: Reports
Sources and witnesses report early-morning explosions near Khartoum international airport, due to reopen on Wednesday.
A series of drone attacks has hit areas in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, including near its international airport, according to media.
Tuesday’s air strikes come a day before the airport’s long-awaited reopening. Witnesses told the news agency AFP that they heard drones over central and southern Khartoum early in the day. Then, a wave of explosions was reported near the airport between 4am and 6am (02:00 and 04:00 GMT).
The airport had been shut down since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary. It has undergone substantial renovation since the army took total control of the capital in March.
Sudan’s de facto leader and army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, visited the airport after the attacks, where he said the military’s “duty is to ensure protection and security for all Sudanese”.
“Soon”, he added, “no one will be able to threaten this land”.
Sudan’s Rakoba News, citing witnesses, reported more than eight blasts in and around the airport. It blamed the attack, which it said used “suicide drones”, on the RSF.
The Paris-based Sudan Tribune also reported a drone barrage, citing security sources and witnesses who saw “plumes of smoke … rising from within the airport perimeter”.
A local security source told the media outlet that Sudan’s military shot down some of the drones. A witness told AFP that the city of Omdurman, north of Khartoum and home to several important military installations, was also hit during the drone attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, and details on casualties or damage were not available.
The Sudan Civil Aviation Authority announced on Monday that domestic flights would gradually resume following technical and operational preparations.
While Khartoum has remained relatively calm since the army reclaimed control of the city earlier this year, drone attacks have continued, with the RSF repeatedly accused of targeting military and civilian infrastructure from afar.
Al Jazeera correspondent Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said: “There are concerns that once the airport reopens for civilian flights, there will be more and more of these drone attacks, which will target civilians and airlines as well.”
Third attack in a week
Tuesday’s reported strikes mark the third spell of drone attacks on the capital in seven days.
Last week, drones targeted two army bases in northwest Khartoum, although a military official said most of the aircraft were intercepted.
Since the army’s counteroffensive and recapture of Khartoum, more than 800,000 people have returned to the capital.
The army-aligned government has since launched a wide-ranging reconstruction campaign and is moving officials back to Khartoum from Port Sudan, where they operated during the occupation of the capital by the RSF.
Large parts of Khartoum, however, remain in ruins, with millions still experiencing frequent blackouts linked to RSF drone activity.
The most intense violence is now concentrated in the west, where RSF forces have surrounded el-Fasher, the last main city in Darfur that is not under their control.
The paramilitary forces continue to try to seize the city, prompting warnings from the United Nations of the potential for further “large-scale, ethnically driven attacks and atrocities”.
The UN also warned on Tuesday that fighting in the city had escalated this week, with reports of drone strikes and clashes.
Should the assault succeed, the RSF would control all of Darfur and much of Sudan’s south, while the army maintains dominance over the centre, east and north.
The strikes come just days after army chief al-Burhan signalled his willingness to discuss ending the war, under pressure from the “Quad” countries – the US, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia – which have urged a negotiated solution.
However, al-Burhan insisted that the RSF had no place in Sudan’s future.
“We do not want any mercenary or militia to have any role in the future of Sudan,” he said, referring to the RSF.
The wider war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced nearly 12 million and created the world’s largest displacement and hunger crises.