Sudan army bombs Nyala airport after suspected RSF supply flight
May 3, 2025 (NYALA) – Sudan’s army bombed positions inside Nyala International Airport in South Darfur state at dawn on Saturday, local sources and eyewitnesses said.
Residents heard at least three explosions at the airport hours after a plane landed there, suspected of being part of an airlift supplying the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with weapons and military equipment.
Military sources told Sudan Tribune the army shelled sites inside the airport, including an airstrip formerly used by the U.N.-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). A residential building near the airport was also targeted, the sources added.
“A plane landed and took off three times at Nyala airport, then landed a final time without taking off again,” eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune.
The witnesses added that the RSF deployed large numbers of its fighters inside Nyala and on outbound roads, while launching an arrest campaign targeting young civilians and retired army and police personnel.
They also reported seeing casualties – wounded people and bodies – in an open-top vehicle travelling from the airport towards the city centre, likely heading to Nyala Teaching Hospital.
Social media activists circulated video clips purportedly showing fire and smoke rising from the airport. Some users commented that the army had targeted a plane while it was unloading supplies.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV channel quoted a military source as saying the army bombed RSF weapons and fuel depots at the airport.
The RSF has used Nyala airport since its reopening for operations, including smuggling gold from the Songo and Radom mines in South Darfur state, evacuating its wounded fighters abroad, and travelling for its commanders, according to various reports.
The first flight landed at the airport on Sept. 21, 2024, after a long halt following the outbreak of the conflict. Civilian access is reportedly restricted, and protection includes electronic jamming systems, air defences, and checkpoints.
The army carried out numerous airstrikes on the airport after it reopened, but these reportedly stopped after the RSF shot down an army warplane east of Nyala on Feb. 24, 2025.
Nyala was recently chosen as the administrative capital for a planned parallel government in RSF-controlled areas, to be announced by the Sudan Founding Coalition (Tahalluf Al-Sudan Al-Tasisy). The Coalition leaders have reportedly begun arriving in the city.