Paramilitary drone attacks targeted Khartoum International Airport for a second consecutive day on Wednesday, a Sudanese military source said, as authorities attempted to reopen the facility for domestic flights for the first time in over two years.
The airport has been closed since April 2023, when fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The Civil Aviation Authority had announced plans to gradually resume domestic services starting Wednesday.
A Badr Airlines flight landed at the airport, according to an official statement, though it remains unclear whether the flight was commercial or carried any passengers.
Explosions
On Tuesday morning, witnesses reported hearing explosions near the site while the army said its air defences intercepted RSF drones at dawn on Wednesday.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited the airport on Tuesday, vowing to "crush this rebellion" – a reference to RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
In a speech posted online, Dagalo claimed the RSF "attacks military positions only" and warned that any aircraft or drone entering Sudanese airspace – whether to drop supplies or carry out airstrikes – from neighbouring countries would be considered a "legitimate target."
"We do not want any mercenary or militia to have a role in Sudan's future," Burhan said on Tuesday, referring to the RSF.
Talks yield little progress
Last month, Sudan's army-aligned government pushed back on a new peace proposal from the US, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE – a group known as the Quad.
The Quad met in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, but talks yielded no clear progress.
The plan suggested excluding both the RSF and the current government from Sudan's post-war transition.
The UAE has long been accused of arming the RSF, allegations it denies.
Sudan's 'dignity'
Earlier this week, Burhan dismissed calls for unconditional negotiations.
He ruled out any peace talks unless they would "end this war in a way that restores Sudan's dignity... and removes any possibility of another rebellion in the future."
