Saudi Arabia, Egypt suspend flights to Sudan as fighting rages in Khartoum

Saudi Arabia and Egypt suspended flights to Sudan's capital Khartoum on Saturday, amid escalating violence between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, Anadolu Agency reported.

Saudi authorities said in a statement that all flights between the kingdom and Sudan had been suspended until further notice.

Egypt's national airliner, EgyptAir, has suspended flights to Khartoum for 72 hours.

“In light of the information received about the unstable security situation in Sudan, EgyptAir announces to its valued customers that it will temporarily suspends its flights to Khartoum Airport, starting today, Saturday, April 15, 2023, for 72 hours,” the airline said in a statement.

Air strikes and artillery exchanges rocked Khartoum Saturday as paramilitaries and the regular army traded attacks on each other's bases, days after the army warned the country was at a "dangerous" turning point.

The paramilitaries said they were in control of the presidential place as well as Khartoum airport, claims denied by the army, as civilian leaders called for an immediate ceasefire to prevent the country's "total collapse".

The doctors' union said three civilians had been killed, including at Khartoum airport and in North Kordofan state, and at least nine others wounded.

The eruption of violence came after weeks of deepening tensions between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, over the planned integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the regular army.