Drone strike hits Sudan's Khartoum ahead of airport reopening
A drone attack struck an area near Khartoum’s international airport on Tuesday, just a day before the facility was scheduled to resume domestic flights for the first time since the outbreak of war in 2023.
Residents reported hearing explosions in multiple districts early Tuesday morning. Social media images appear to show a series of blasts, News.Az reports, citing BBC.
No casualties or damage have been reported, and no group has claimed responsibility.
Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority had announced on Monday that the airport would reopen on Wednesday, months after the army recaptured Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and began repairing the heavily damaged facility.
Tuesday’s drone strike is the third attack in the capital within a week, following strikes on two army bases in north-west Khartoum on consecutive days last week. A security source cited by the Sudan Tribune said anti-aircraft defenses intercepted several drones after 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), though details of any damage were not disclosed.
The international airport was shut down shortly after fighting erupted between the army and the RSF in April 2023, when the paramilitary group seized control. Port Sudan in the east remains the country’s only functioning international airport, though it has also been targeted by drones.
Since the army retook Khartoum in March, the city has been relatively calm, but attacks have continued, with the RSF accused of targeting civilian and military infrastructure remotely. Following their loss of the capital, the RSF has intensified efforts to capture el-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in western Darfur.
The ongoing conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions. What began as a power struggle between the army and the RSF has drawn in other Sudanese armed groups and foreign backers, creating what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
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