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
https://arab.news/ctkv5
First domestic flight lands in Sudan’s capital Khartoum since war began
- It’s unclear how many airlines would use Khartoum airport
Abbas reiterates opposition to displacement of Palestinians
- During Moscow talks, president calls for immediate halt to Israeli acts of terror
- Historically, Russia has supported and stood by the Palestinian people at political and diplomatic levels
MOSCOW: The Palestinian National Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas has reiterated his opposition to all attempts to displace Palestinian people from their land.
Speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the presidential palace in Moscow, Abbas was reported by the Kremlin’s official website as saying that “the Palestinian people are holding on to their land, and we categorically oppose attempts by the Americans and Israelis to expatriate Palestinians beyond Palestinian territory.”
He said the Palestinian people “will not abandon their land, whatever the cost.” Abbas stressed the need to fully implement US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, leading to the withdrawal of occupation forces and the launch of the reconstruction process.
He emphasized that the Palestinian Authority would assume a central role in administering the Gaza Strip, and that the enclave and the West Bank constituted two parts of a single territorial unit, with a unified and undifferentiated system of civilian institutions.
He stressed the need for an immediate halt to “Israeli settler colonialism and Israeli acts of terror in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, along with the release of withheld Palestinian funds and the cessation of all measures that undermined the Palestinian Authority and the two-state solution.”
He reaffirmed his commitment to continue the struggle for the realization of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and of their right to a fully sovereign, independent state based on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, while living in security and peace with neighbors.
He told Putin: “What we need is peace, and we hope that with your help and support, we can achieve it — a peace built on the basis of international legal resolutions, decisions of the United Nations, and the principles established following the wars of 1967 and 1973.
“East Jerusalem remains the capital of Palestine, and we know that Russia has always supported — indeed, was the first to support — Palestine, maintaining a firm stance in support of our people.”
Abbas thanked his Russian counterpart for Moscow’s support and commended the bilateral “bonds of friendship” between both countries. He added: “We are friends of Russia and the Russian people. For over 50 years our nations have been bound by a strong friendship that has developed over the decades and continues on the correct path. Russia is a great friend and a nation upon which we rely in many spheres.
“Historically, Russia has supported and stood by the Palestinian people at political and diplomatic levels. Your economic and financial support is both significant in scale and crucial in importance.”
Abbas emphasized moving forward with the implementation of a comprehensive national reform program aimed at consolidating the rule of law, strengthening the principles of good governance, transparency, and accountability, and ensuring the separation of powers.
Putin affirmed Moscow’s “principled and consistent approach” to the Palestinian question.
He said: “We believe that only the establishment and full functioning of the Palestinian state can lead to a lasting settlement of the Middle East conflict.”
