DUBAI: An attack on a humanitarian convoy of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Sudanese capital Khartoum killed two people and injured seven on Sunday, the ICRC said.
The wounded included three ICRC staff members, the Red Cross added in a statement.
“The humanitarian convoy, consisting of three ICRC vehicles and three buses, all clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, was due to evacuate over a hundred vulnerable civilians from Khartoum to Wad Madani when it came under attack upon entering the evacuation area,” the statement read.
The ICRC said it is shocked and appalled by the attack, which it described as deliberate.
It did not point the finger at any party, but Sudan's army said the convoy had come under fire after violating an agreement by approaching its defensive positions, using a car “belonging to the rebels” - a reference to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The ICRC convoy was evacuating civilians, including foreign nationals, from St. Mary's Church in Khartoum, according to the army.
In a separate statement, the RSF accused the army of attacking the convoy. It said the incident had resulted in deaths as well as injuries.
“The humanitarian operation had been requested by and coordinated with the parties to the conflict, who gave their agreement and provided the necessary security guarantees,” the ICRC said.
The army and the RSF have been locked since mid-April in a conflict that has devastated Khartoum and triggered waves of ethnic killings in Darfur despite several diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting.
Attack on ICRC convoy in Sudan’s Khartoum kills two, injures seven
https://arab.news/n4bft
Attack on ICRC convoy in Sudan’s Khartoum kills two, injures seven
- The ICRC said it is shocked and appalled by the attack, which it described as deliberate
- The ICRC convoy was evacuating civilians, including foreign nationals, from St. Mary's Church in Khartoum, according to the army
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
