A Saudi Airlines plane was fired upon at Khartoum International Airport on Saturday as it was about to take off to Riyadh, but the crew and passengers on board were evacuated and are safe, the airline said.
In a statement, Saudi Airlines said the crew is at the Saudi embassy in Sudan and passengers are fine, while the company has ordered the return to origin of all aircraft en route to Sudan due to the clashes that began this Saturday morning between the Sudanese army and the Armed Forces Rapid Support (RSF), a paramilitary group.
The firefight against the aircraft took place at 07:00 local time (06:00 in Lisbon), two hours before the start of fighting between the forces.
The President of the Sovereign Council of Sudan and Chief of the Armed Forces, General Abdelfatah al Burhan, said in an interview with Al Jazeera television channel this Saturday that “Rapid Support Forces infiltrated the airport and set fire to some aircraft”, without informing the companies. specify. affected.
The Egyptian airline Egyptair also announced on Twitter that it will temporarily suspend its flights to Khartoum for 72 hours from next Saturday due to the “unstable security situation in Sudan”.
By mid-morning on Saturday, the RSF claimed to be in control of Khartoum International Airport, the largest in Sudan, information Al Burhan denied, adding that the military had the situation in the capital “under control”.
These clashes come two days after the army warned that the country is in a “dangerous situation” that could lead to armed conflict, following RSF mobilization in the Sudanese capital and other cities without the consent or coordination of the armed forces. .
This mobilization came during negotiations to reach a final political agreement that would end the 2021 coup and lead Sudan to a democratic transition, a pact whose signing was delayed twice this month precisely because of tensions and rivalries between the Army and the RSF. .
Source: DN
