CAIRO (AP) — 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, U.N. 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 Daglo 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.
