KHARTOUM, Oct 21, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - A drone attack struck the vicinity of Khartoum International Airport early Tuesday, one day before Sudanese authorities were due to reopen the facility for domestic flights for the first time in over two years.

Eyewitnesses told AFP that they heard the sounds of drones over central and southern Khartoum and multiple explosions in the airport area between 4:00 and 6:00 am (0200-0400 GMT).

The airport has been shut since fighting erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), leaving vital infrastructure across the capital heavily damaged.

On Monday, Sudan's Civil Aviation Authority had said the airport would reopen as planned on Wednesday, with domestic flights resuming gradually after technical and operational preparations were completed.

While Khartoum has remained relatively calm since the army reclaimed control earlier this year, drone attacks have continued, with the RSF repeatedly accused of targeting military and civilian infrastructure from afar.

One eyewitness also told AFP that drones hit northern Omdurman early Tuesday, an area known to host some of Sudan's largest military installations.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes and no information on casualties or damage was released.

Tuesday's strike marks the third drone attack on the capital in a week. Last week, drones targeted two army bases in northwest Khartoum over two consecutive days, though a military official said most of the drones were intercepted.

Following the army's counteroffensive and recapture of Khartoum, more than 800,000 people have returned to the capital.

The army-aligned government has since launched a wide-ranging reconstruction campaign and is moving officials back from Port Sudan, where they had operated during the conflict.

Large parts of Khartoum, however, remain in ruins, with millions still experiencing frequent blackouts linked to RSF drone activity.

The most intense violence is now concentrated in the west, where RSF forces have surrounded El-Fasher, the last major city in Darfur not under their control. The paramilitary has tried to seize the city for over 18 months, making it the most strategically critical front of the war.

If captured, the RSF would control all of Darfur and much of Sudan's south, while the army maintains dominance over the centre, east and north.

The wider war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands, displaced nearly 12 million and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.