A commercial flight has landed in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, marking only the second such arrival since a devastating war erupted across the northeastern African nation nearly three years ago.
The domestic service, operated by the national flag carrier SUDANAIR, touched down at Khartoum International Airport on Sunday afternoon, the state-run SUNA news agency reported.
It had departed earlier that morning from Port Sudan, the eastern Red Sea city that served as the interim government seat until the administration moved back to Khartoum earlier this year.
The reopening of Khartoum International Airport is considered a vital step in the government’s efforts to normalise life in the capital.
The city has been severely impacted by the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese military and the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Sunday’s arrival follows a previous commercial flight by privately owned Badr Airlines, which landed at the airport in October last year.
On that occasion, the RSF launched drones in an attempt to disrupt the government’s efforts to reopen the facility, after the military had retaken Khartoum from the paramilitary group earlier in the year.
The war in Sudan began in April 2023 when a power struggle between the military and the RSF exploded into open fighting in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.
The airport was severely damaged in the first weeks of the war.
The devastating war has killed more than 40,000 people, according to U.N. figures, but aid groups say that is an undercount and the true number could be many times higher.
It created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis with over 14 million people forced to flee their homes. It fueled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.
During a briefing at the U.N. Security Council on 20 January, deputy ICC prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said her office was investigating alleged crimes committed by the RSF in al-Fashir, with a particular focus on violence against women, girls, and children.
Khan said that based on the evidence collected so far, her office believes war crimes and crimes against humanity occurred in the city in late October during the culmination of the RSF’s siege of al-Fashir.
