Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday extended the closure of the country’s airspace to June 15 amid continued armed conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
In a notice to airmen, or NOTAM, on Wednesday, the authority decided to extend the closure of airspace for all civil flights, with the exception of those carrying humanitarian aid.
The authority said that the closure could be extended again in the future.
Since the outbreak of the deadly armed clashes in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and other areas on April 15, the country’s airspace has been closed as air navigation systems at Khartoum International Airport have been affected.
More than 800 people have been killed, and nearly 1.4 million people have been forced to leave their homes since the conflict began, with more than one million people internally displaced and about 345,000 people crossing into neighboring countries for safety, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in its latest report on Sunday.
“Meanwhile, we and our partners continue to deliver aid wherever and whenever we can,” OCHA said. “The World Food Programme (WFP) has started distributions in Khartoum State, reaching some 15,000 people trapped in Omdurman with emergency food.”
Across Sudan, WFP reached more than 782,000 people with food and nutrition support over the past four weeks, the humanitarian office said. The agency also provides emergency telecommunications services to all UN agencies and the wider humanitarian community in Sudan, where basic connectivity remains challenging.
Source: Xinhua
