CAIRO: A domestic passenger flight landed at Khartoum International Airport in Sudan’s capital on Wednesday for the first time since the war broke out over two years ago, potentially marking the gradual reopening of air traffic.
Sudan’s media and culture ministry confirmed a Badr Airlines flight from Port Sudan landed. The airport previously received flights carrying Sudanese military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan at least twice this year.
The army in March captured the airport from the rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. The war broke out when the military and the RSF turned against each other in a struggle for power. Although the military holds the capital, the RSF still controls parts of the western Darfur region and other areas.
The fighting has killed at least 40,000 people, according to the World Health Organization, and displaced as many as 12 million others. Over 24 million people are facing acute food insecurity, UN says.
The RSF fired drones at the airport at dawn Tuesday but the military intercepted them, according to an army statement.
RSF leader Mohammad Hamdan Dagalo Mousa, also known as Hemedti, later on Tuesday night threatened in a video speech that his forces would continue targeting the airport.
“Any airplane that takes off from any neighboring country, any airplane that is dropping supplies, bombing or killing, any drone that takes off from any airport, will be a legitimate target for us,” he said.
Burhan toured the airport on Tuesday ahead of its scheduled reopening and delivered a speech vowing to protect citizens from the RSF.
The Sudan Civil Aviation Authority this week confirmed that domestic flights would resume on Wednesday after necessary operational and technical procedures were completed, according to Sudan News Agency.
It’s unclear how many airlines would use Khartoum airport. Sudanese officials were not immediately available for comment.
First domestic flight lands in Sudan’s capital Khartoum since war began
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First domestic flight lands in Sudan’s capital Khartoum since war began
- It’s unclear how many airlines would use Khartoum airport
UN warns of abuse of Palestinians returning to Gaza through Rafah crossing
- Human Rights Office describes pattern of ill-treatment, abuse and humiliation of returnees by Israeli forces, and by armed Palestinians allegedly backed by Israeli military
- Meanwhile, reports continue of airstrikes, gunfire and shelling across Gaza, and Israeli forces demolish a UN-run school
NEW YORK CITY: The Rafah crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt opened for a fourth consecutive day on Thursday, allowing a limited number of people to pass through.
However, the UN voiced concerns about reported mistreatment of Palestinians returning to the war-ravaged enclave.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also said reports continue across civilian areas in Gaza of airstrikes, gunfire and shelling, resulting in casualties and damage to infrastructure.
And Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished Jabalya Preparatory Boys’ School in northern Gaza, OCHA said. Run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, it was the last remaining school in a compound of six. Its destruction means the entire educational complex has been razed to the ground.
A limited flow of people were allowed to use the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s main physical connection to the outside world, for four days in a row since it reopened on Monday, OCHA said. Only 98 returnees were received by UN teams inside Gaza between Monday and Thursday, it added, and the crossing remains closed on Fridays.
The UN Human Rights Office warned of what it described as a pattern of ill-treatment, abuse and humiliation of returnees by Israeli forces, and by armed Palestinians allegedly backed by the Israeli military.
According to accounts collected by the UN’s Human Rights Office, armed Palestinians handcuffed and blindfolded returnees, threatened and intimidated them, conducted searches and stole personal belongings and money. Returnees also reported violence, degrading interrogations and invasive body searches upon arrival at Israeli checkpoints.
The accounts point to conduct that violates the rights of Palestinians to personal security and dignity, and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment, the Human Rights Office said.
Meanwhile, the UN said it attempted to coordinate 11 humanitarian missions with the Israeli authorities on Wednesday and Thursday. Six were fully facilitated, but four faced lengthy delays at holding points along designated routes. Two of those missions were only partially completed, the other two eventually went ahead despite the delays.
A mission to monitor humanitarian cargo at the Kissufim crossing, east of Khan Younis, was denied on Wednesday after the crossing was closed.
The purposes of the missions included the collection of water, sanitation supplies, fuel and other items, medical evacuations through the Rafah crossing, and the transportation of returnees to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, OCHA said.
