KHARTOUM: Paramilitary drones targeted Khartoum International Airport on Wednesday for a second consecutive day, a Sudanese military source told AFP.
The source, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to brief the media, said “drones targeted Khartoum airport once again at dawn” on Wednesday.
He added that army air defenses intercepted the drones he said had been launched by a “terrorist militia” — a reference to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been fighting the army since April 2023.
Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority had said the airport would reopen on Wednesday, with domestic flights resuming gradually after technical and operational preparations were completed.
But no further announcements on the reopening were made after Tuesday’s attack and it remains unclear whether operations will go ahead as planned following the latest strikes.
On Tuesday, witnesses reported hearing numerous explosions in an area near the airport in the early morning. The facility appeared intact during a visit later that day by army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan.
Speaking from inside the airport, Burhan said the army was “determined to crush this rebellion” — a reference to the RSF led by his former ally Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The RSF has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, but has been repeatedly accused of using drones to target military and civilian infrastructure in recent months.
In a speech released late on Tuesday on social media, Dagalo asserted the RSF “attacks military positions only” and vowed to remove the army, which he called a “cancer.”
Khartoum has seen a relative lull in ground fighting since the army retook parts of the capital earlier this year, but drone strikes have continued amid ongoing efforts by the government to restore services and relocate key institutions back from the de facto capital of Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Paramilitary drones target Khartoum airport for second day
https://arab.news/m9qda
Paramilitary drones target Khartoum airport for second day
- Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority had said the airport would reopen on Wednesday
US Congress moves toward repeal of tough ‘Caesar’ sanctions on Syria
- The Caesar sanctions, the most stringent restrictions, can only be removed permanently by an act of Congress
- Several Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in the country as part of Riyadh’s drive to support the country’s recovery
WASHINGTON: A set of tough US sanctions imposed on Syria under its former leader Bashar Assad could be lifted within weeks, after their repeal was included in a sweeping defense policy bill unveiled during the weekend and due for votes in Congress within days. The Senate and House of Representatives included repeal of the so-called Caesar sanctions, a move seen as key to Syria’s economic recovery, in a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, a sweeping annual defense policy bill that was unveiled late on Sunday.
The provision in the 3,000-page defense bill repeals the 2019 Caesar Act and requires regular reports from the White House certifying that Syria’s government is fighting Daesh militants, upholding religious and ethnic minority rights within the country and not taking unilateral, unprovoked military action against its neighbors, including Israel.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Sanctions relief seen as key to Syrian economic revival
• US bill including repeal expected to pass within weeks
• Trump has temporarily lifted sanctions, Congress must approve permanent relief
The NDAA is expected to pass by the end of this year and be signed into law by President Donald Trump, whose fellow Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate and lead the committees that wrote the bill. Lifting the sanctions is considered a key to the success of Syria’s new government. Several Saudi Arabian firms are planning billion-dollar investments in the country as part of Riyadh’s drive to support the country’s recovery. The US sanctions have been a significant obstacle to Syria’s economic revival.
Trump announced plans to lift all sanctions on Syria during a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in May, and his administration has suspended them temporarily. However, the Caesar sanctions, the most stringent restrictions, can only be removed permanently by an act of Congress.
The 2019 Caesar Act imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Syria targeting individuals, companies and institutions linked to Assad, who was the president of Syria from 2000 until his ouster in 2024 by rebel forces led by Sharaa. Syrian central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh told Reuters last week that the country’s economy was growing faster than had been expected. He described the repeal of many US sanctions as “a miracle.”
The sanctions are named after a Syrian military photographer, code-named “Caesar,” who smuggled out thousands of gruesome photos documenting torture and war crimes by Assad’s government.
