DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates will not change its civilian flight paths, the chairman of its General Civil Aviation Authority said on Tuesday, a day after the UAE accused Qatari fighter jets of flying dangerously close to two of its civilian planes.
Asked if any changes would be made to civilian routes, Sultan bin Saeed Al-Mansouri said: “We have no plans at the present time.”
The UAE called the incident — which Qatar denied — a “provocative action,” and said it had already reported two similar events to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations’ aviation agency.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Dubai, Mansouri said the UAE would now complain to the ICAO again.
Authorities in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are again accusing Qatari military jets of interfering with their flights, amid the Arab countries’ boycott of the Gulf nation.
Qatar, which has complained about Emirati military aircraft violating its airspace, denied the UAE’s claims. Officials in Doha declined to comment on Tuesday when reached.
Bahrain’s state-run news agency said late Monday that Qatari fighter jets passed underneath an Emirati plane with a tail number corresponding to an aircraft flown by the ruling family of Fujairah, one of the UAE’s seven emirates.
The report said the incident took place over international waters near Bahrain, an island kingdom off the coast of Saudi Arabia.
“The two fighters flew deliberately under a UAE Airbus 320 ... en route from Fujairah to Rome, prompting Bahrain’s Air Surveillance to intervene and take the necessary measures to ensure aviation safety,” the report said.
“The Emirati A320 jet then flew at a higher altitude of 35,000 feet to avoid the Qatari fighters, which consistently violate international conventions and jeopardize the movement of civil aviation in the region,” it added.
Data from FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website, shows that an Airbus A320 associated with Fujairah’s ruling family flew Monday en route to Rome and did climb above its 35,000-foot cruising altitude near Bahrain. However, that data did not offer an explanation for the gain in altitude.
It wasn’t clear who was on board the flight. Authorities in Fujairah, on the UAE’s eastern coast, and Bahrain did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
Separately, the UAE’s civil aviation authority issued a statement alleging that “two Qatari fighter jets dangerously approached two UAE-registered commercial airplanes while flying” in Bahrain’s airspace. It wasn’t clear if one of those craft was the Fujairah to Rome flight, as the statement did not identify the aircraft involved.
Emirates, the Dubai-based long-haul carrier, and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad declined to comment. FlyDubai, a low-cost airline, said its planes weren’t involved. Sharjah-based Air Arabia did not respond to requests for comment.
Local media in the UAE, citing a GCAA employee, identified the Emirati aircraft involved in the incidents as a helicopter and a passenger plane.
The state-run Qatar News Agency issued a statement from civil aviation authorities late Monday denying the Emirati claims and calling it an attempt to cover up previous violations of Qatari airspace. Qatar accused Emirati military jets of violating its air space in December and January in two incidents, filing its own complaint to the UN The UAE denied the allegations.
Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut off Qatar’s land, sea and air routes on June 5 over its alleged support of extremists and close ties with Iran.
The diplomatic crisis has hurt Qatar Airways, Doha’s long-haul carrier that competes with Emirates and Etihad.
Qatar had complained to the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization about the boycotting nations cutting off its air routes, forcing the carrier to take longer flights through Iran and Turkey. Its regional feeder flights in Saudi Arabia and the UAE also have been cut off.
Widening the Gulf dispute to include civilian aviation and airspace could hurt Emirati airlines already stung by President Donald Trump’s travel bans, as well as last year’s ban on laptops in airplane cabins, which has been lifted.
Dubai is home to the world’s busiest airport for international travel.
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UAE says civilian flight paths will not change after fighter jet incident
UAE says civilian flight paths will not change after fighter jet incident
Civilians and aid operations bare brunt of drone strikes in Sudan’s Kordofan
- At least 77 people killed and dozens injured in various attacks in Kordofan, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces
- Residents say RSF drone strikes are taking place almost daily around the two key cities of Kadugli and Dilling
CAIRO: A surge in drone strikes in the Sudanese region of Kordofan has taken a growing toll on civilians and hampered aid operations, analysts and humanitarian workers said Wednesday, as the war in Sudan nears the three-year mark.
At least 77 people were killed and dozens injured in various attacks, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, in densely populated areas, according to Sudan Doctors Network, a group that tracks violence through the war. Many of the victims were civilians.
The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.
The military increased its use of drones and airstrikes in Kordofan over the past year as the conflict shifted westward, making the region “a primary theater of operations,” said Jalale Getachew Birru, senior analyst for East Africa at the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, ACLED.
Two weeks ago, the military said it broke the RSF siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan province, and the neighboring town of Dilling after more than two years.
However, Birru said the sieges were not fully broken. “These cities are still encircled, and the fight for the control of these cities and the wider region is ongoing,” he told The Associated Press.
Daily drone strikes
Walid Mohamed, a resident of Kadugli, told the AP that breaking the siege allowed more goods and medicines to enter the city, reopening the corridor with Dilling and driving down food prices after a dire humanitarian situation unfolded there. However, he said RSF drone strikes have since occurred almost daily, mainly targeting hospitals, markets and homes.
Omran Ahmed, a resident of Dilling, also said drone strikes had increased, “spreading fear and terror among residents as they see more civilians become victims.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday sounded the alarm that drone strikes killed more than 50 civilians over two days this week.
“These latest killings are yet another reminder of the devastating consequences on civilians of the escalating use of drone warfare in Sudan,” said Türk, condemning the attacks on civilian sites including markets, health facilities and schools.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said there was evidence that both sides had used drones against civilians in this week’s attacks.
“These civilians have been at one time or another in government-controlled areas and areas controlled by the RSF, which would make us believe that both sides are using them,” he said.
Two military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, told the AP this week that the army doesn’t target civilian infrastructure.
A UN convoy reached Dilling and Kadugli with aid for more than 130,000 people, the first major delivery in three months, United Nations agencies said Wednesday. However, aid workers are concerned about escalating violence.
Mathilde Vu, an advocacy manager with the Norwegian Refugee Council told the AP there’s “huge concern” about the “unacceptable” escalation in Kordofan and that it could “shatter lives and obstruct any hope to reverse the famine/ starvation” in the region.
“It’s very indiscriminate. Between Kordofan, Darfur and the east (Sennar), it’s now every other day we receive messages like ‘drone attack here, hit a civilian infrastructure, killed people,’” Vu said.
Kordofan battlefront shifts
Much of the recent fighting in Sudan has been centered in Kordofan, where the army wants to create a route into the neighboring region of Darfur, Kholood Khair, founding director of Confluence Advisory, a think tank, told the AP.
El-Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur, was the army’s last stronghold in the region but fell to the RSF in October. Its recapture could allow the army to restore important supply and logistic lines between Kordofan and Darfur.
Meanwhile, the RSF wants to create a route out of Kordofan, back to the center of the country and the capital, Khartoum, Khair said.
Both the military and the RSF have used drones, especially in North Kordofan. Civilians have been hard-hit.
Last year, 163 air and drone strikes across the country targeted civilians, killing 1,032 people, according to ACLED data. The army reportedly carried out 83 strikes that caused 568 deaths, while the RSF conducted 66 strikes that killed 288 people.
Both sides have stepped up their use of drones in Kordofan over the past few weeks, according to Federico Donelli, associate professor of international relations at the University of Trieste.
Donelli said several factors are driving the increase, including the army’s acquisition of new weapons and drones manufactured and supplied by foreign actors.
“This has enabled the army to rely more heavily on precision strikes, mirroring tactics that the Rapid Support Forces have been using for some time,” he said,
Both sides may be struggling to maintain troop strength, he said. “Consequently, drones are favored over deploying armed units on the ground, particularly in contested areas such as Kordofan.”
Khair, from Confluence Advisory, said the fighting in Kordofan could shift in the upcoming period, with the army potentially seeking to push into Darfur, particularly toward el-Fasher, where war crimes have been reported.
“We expect to see the bombing campaigns not only continue but increase in frequency and volume,” she said.
At least 77 people were killed and dozens injured in various attacks, mostly by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, in densely populated areas, according to Sudan Doctors Network, a group that tracks violence through the war. Many of the victims were civilians.
The conflict between the RSF and the Sudanese military erupted into a full-blown war in April 2023. So far, at least 40,000 people have been killed and 12 million displaced, according to the World Health Organization. Aid groups say the true toll could be many times higher, as the fighting in vast and remote areas impedes access.
The military increased its use of drones and airstrikes in Kordofan over the past year as the conflict shifted westward, making the region “a primary theater of operations,” said Jalale Getachew Birru, senior analyst for East Africa at the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location & Event Data, ACLED.
Two weeks ago, the military said it broke the RSF siege of Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan province, and the neighboring town of Dilling after more than two years.
However, Birru said the sieges were not fully broken. “These cities are still encircled, and the fight for the control of these cities and the wider region is ongoing,” he told The Associated Press.
Daily drone strikes
Walid Mohamed, a resident of Kadugli, told the AP that breaking the siege allowed more goods and medicines to enter the city, reopening the corridor with Dilling and driving down food prices after a dire humanitarian situation unfolded there. However, he said RSF drone strikes have since occurred almost daily, mainly targeting hospitals, markets and homes.
Omran Ahmed, a resident of Dilling, also said drone strikes had increased, “spreading fear and terror among residents as they see more civilians become victims.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Wednesday sounded the alarm that drone strikes killed more than 50 civilians over two days this week.
“These latest killings are yet another reminder of the devastating consequences on civilians of the escalating use of drone warfare in Sudan,” said Türk, condemning the attacks on civilian sites including markets, health facilities and schools.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said there was evidence that both sides had used drones against civilians in this week’s attacks.
“These civilians have been at one time or another in government-controlled areas and areas controlled by the RSF, which would make us believe that both sides are using them,” he said.
Two military officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, told the AP this week that the army doesn’t target civilian infrastructure.
A UN convoy reached Dilling and Kadugli with aid for more than 130,000 people, the first major delivery in three months, United Nations agencies said Wednesday. However, aid workers are concerned about escalating violence.
Mathilde Vu, an advocacy manager with the Norwegian Refugee Council told the AP there’s “huge concern” about the “unacceptable” escalation in Kordofan and that it could “shatter lives and obstruct any hope to reverse the famine/ starvation” in the region.
“It’s very indiscriminate. Between Kordofan, Darfur and the east (Sennar), it’s now every other day we receive messages like ‘drone attack here, hit a civilian infrastructure, killed people,’” Vu said.
Kordofan battlefront shifts
Much of the recent fighting in Sudan has been centered in Kordofan, where the army wants to create a route into the neighboring region of Darfur, Kholood Khair, founding director of Confluence Advisory, a think tank, told the AP.
El-Fasher city, the capital of North Darfur, was the army’s last stronghold in the region but fell to the RSF in October. Its recapture could allow the army to restore important supply and logistic lines between Kordofan and Darfur.
Meanwhile, the RSF wants to create a route out of Kordofan, back to the center of the country and the capital, Khartoum, Khair said.
Both the military and the RSF have used drones, especially in North Kordofan. Civilians have been hard-hit.
Last year, 163 air and drone strikes across the country targeted civilians, killing 1,032 people, according to ACLED data. The army reportedly carried out 83 strikes that caused 568 deaths, while the RSF conducted 66 strikes that killed 288 people.
Both sides have stepped up their use of drones in Kordofan over the past few weeks, according to Federico Donelli, associate professor of international relations at the University of Trieste.
Donelli said several factors are driving the increase, including the army’s acquisition of new weapons and drones manufactured and supplied by foreign actors.
“This has enabled the army to rely more heavily on precision strikes, mirroring tactics that the Rapid Support Forces have been using for some time,” he said,
Both sides may be struggling to maintain troop strength, he said. “Consequently, drones are favored over deploying armed units on the ground, particularly in contested areas such as Kordofan.”
Khair, from Confluence Advisory, said the fighting in Kordofan could shift in the upcoming period, with the army potentially seeking to push into Darfur, particularly toward el-Fasher, where war crimes have been reported.
“We expect to see the bombing campaigns not only continue but increase in frequency and volume,” she said.
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