Nyala , March 31(Darfur 24)
Hussein, who lives in the Majok East neighborhood not far from Nyala InternationalAirport, still remembers the screams of children and women when the cargo plane landed at dawn on September 21 at Nyala Airport, the capital of South Darfur State. In their minds, the flight was associated with the tragedies of bombing.
Hussein told Darfur 24 that he and his family lay on the ground, waiting to hear the sound of the barrel bombs continuously dropped by army fighter jets. But fear quickly turned to confusion as the sound of the plane’s engine gradually faded.
He pointed out that not hearing the sounds of RSF’ anti-aircraft missiles, which coincided with the flight of the warplanes over the city, prompted him to leave the house, where he realized the plane was landing at the airport.
Multiple Use
Darfur 24 verified the landing of 130 aircraft at Nyala Airport between September 21 and March 14. Eyewitnesses, former employees, and military sources said they were cargo planes.
Most of the flights landed during the initial period of the airport’s resumption at 2:00 a.m., with the aircraft staying for approximately 40 minutes to an hour before taking off again. However, since the beginning of this year, the aircraft have been staying for approximately four hours before departing.
The prolonged time spent by cargo planes at Nyala Airport indicates the Rapid Support Forces’ confidence in the jamming and anti-aircraft systems it has recently acquired, as well as the increased equipment they carry, which requires longer unloading times.
An air traffic controller at Nyala Airport told Darfur 24 that large Ilyushin cargo planes take approximately two hours or more to unload their cargo.
He stated that the planes that land and take off within an hour are likely not carrying a large shipment or are for purposes other than cargo.
The exact equipment carried by the planes that periodically land at Nyala Airport remains unclear. Various sources claim they carry weapons and modern drones for the Rapid Support Forces, but the army has not commented on these flights.
The Rapid Support Forces are using Nyala Airport, after its reopening, as one of several routes for smuggling gold produced from the Singu and Radom mines, according to an investigative report conducted jointly by a team of journalists from Darfur24 and the Ayin website, published last January.
Reliable sources told Darfur 24 that the Rapid Support Forces used Nyala Airport for the travel and return of some delegations who attended the signing ceremony of the founding charter and the transitional constitution, paving the way for the formation of a parallel government.
The airport witnessed the return of some RSF soldiers from Saudi Arabia via a third country during January and February. These soldiers were among the forces that participated in Operation Decisive Storm.
On September 21, 2018, Darfur 24 achieved a scoop by publishing news of the landing of the first cargo plane at Nyala Airport.
A commander from RSF told Darfur 24 that the forces had used employees and workers who had previously worked at Nyala Airport for operational purposes.
An airport employee explained that operations began last November, with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) calling in ground and air navigation teams hours before any aircraft landed.
He told Darfur 24 that the airport has been operating around the clock since the beginning of this year, receiving flights almost daily.
A senior source in the army’s military intelligence confirmed to Darfur 24 that the RSF had used some employees and security personnel who had been working at Nyala Airport to help restore its operations.
The RSF secured Nyala Airport militarily and technically before working to restore its operations, bringing in modern jamming devices and renovating many of its buildings.
A military source told Darfur 24 that RSFhad installed a modern jamming system at Nyala Airport and some state buildings, allowing bombs dropped by warplanes targeting the airport to hit nearby neighborhoods, such as Taiba al-Nil, Abbad al-Rahman, al-Jumhuriya, and Daraj Rabia.
He said that one of the jamming systems was mobile and placed in a vehicle similar to a Starlik devices .
Uncertain Protection
Aircraft landing and taking off from Nyala Airport use a runway designated for the former United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), with maintenance and rehabilitation of parts of the other runways after they were bombed.
Army launched the first airstrike after the airport’s resumption on September 24, destroying control towers and administrative offices. However, they were quickly restored.
Effects of Airstrikes on Nyala Airport
Military source explained that the airstrike did not destroy the airport runway, but it did damage the administrative offices and lounges.
Despite Jamming devices installed by RSF at the airport, the army has continued to launch airstrikes, with Darfur 24 observing more than 26 airstrikes since the beginning of the year, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians.
Thousands of civilians have fled the city of Nyala to escape the airstrikes and the possibility of a mid-air collision between army fighter jets and Rapid Support Forces flights.
Three identical sources told Darfur 24 that five army airstrikes were launched in January and February on Nyala, coinciding with the presence of a Rapid Support Forces aircraft at the airport or at the crossings on El Fasher Street, north of Nyala.
Other sources reported that the Rapid Support Forces deployed new anti-aircraft missiles in eastern Nyala, near Nyala Technical College, and in the south and far north of the city, in addition to missiles in the Domaya area, west of Nyala.
They believed that the Rapid Support Forces shot down the warplane on February 24 with the new missiles, with its wreckage scattered in the Al-Mustaqbal neighborhood, north of Nyala.
Military Zone
Residents of the Majok neighborhood near Nyala Airport told Darfur 24 about new construction within the facility, including three buildings that were not previously present.
They said that a number of families were forced to flee their homes in neighborhoods near the airport, including the Majok neighborhood, for fear of repeated shelling of the airport’s surroundings.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) set up numerous checkpoints on the road leading to the airport and the surrounding area to prevent residents from approaching, effectively transforming the airport into a fully military zone.
The RSF also intensified its presence east and north of the international airport.
The Sudan Foundation Alliance, which includes the RSF, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), armed movements, political forces, and civil society groups, has chosen Nyala as the capital of the parallel government they are working to form after the adoption of the 2025 transitional constitution.
Leaders from the alliance, including the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement-Transitional Council, Al-Hadi Idris, stated that the parallel government intends to purchase warplanes to defend civilians. Its main base is likely to be at Nyala Airport, the only functioning facility in Darfur, most of which is under Rapid Support Forces control.