A drone attack has hit an area near Khartoum International Airport in Sudan’s capital, a day before the facility was set to resume domestic flights for the first time since war erupted in 2023.
Residents in Khartoum reported hearing multiple explosions early Tuesday morning, with unverified social media footage showing several blasts across the city. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and there are no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
The incident comes shortly after Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority announced that domestic flights would resume on Wednesday, following extensive repairs to the heavily damaged airport. The Sudanese army had recaptured Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) months earlier and begun restoring key infrastructure.
Tuesday’s strike marks the third attack in Khartoum within a week. Last week, drone strikes targeted two army bases in north-western parts of the city. A security source cited by the Sudan Tribune reported that anti-aircraft defences intercepted several drones around 04:00 local time (02:00 GMT), though further details remain unclear.
Khartoum International Airport has been closed since April 2023, when fighting between the army and the RSF first broke out. During the conflict’s early days, the RSF seized control of the airport, forcing all international flights to move to Port Sudan now the country’s only operational international airport, which has also faced drone attacks.
While Khartoum has experienced relative calm since the army reclaimed the capital in March, sporadic attacks continue. The RSF is believed to be targeting both military and civilian sites from afar, as it intensifies efforts to capture el-Fasher, the army’s last major stronghold in the western Darfur region.
The ongoing conflict has devastated Sudan, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions. What began as a power struggle between the army and the RSF has evolved into a complex civil war drawing in multiple armed groups and foreign actors a crisis the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe.
