Kenya Airways cancels all flights to Sudan after military violence erupts

Sudan's Army General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan is reported to have told Al Jazeera that RSF had attacked his residence in the morning, igniting the violence. The RSF claimed full control of the presidential palace even as the army claimed control of all airports.

Military aircraft were seen in the skies above Khartoum on Saturday afternoon, with gunfire heard in several parts of the city as the country's army fought the paramilitary RSF.

Several people have been injured in the violence with three civilians reported dead.

Activities around Khartoum International Airport have been halted with aircraft set ablaze.

Kenya Airways suspended flights to Khartoum with their communications team saying passengers would be advised as the situation which is being monitored unfolds. 

Sources at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) said several flights to Kenya from Europe had also been turned back due to safety concerns about Sudan's airspace. Pilots headed to and from Europe and the Middle East were advised to seek alternative routes.

There has been a vicious power struggle between General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo of RSF and Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan of the Sudan army after the army took charge of Sudan in October 2021, ending a power-sharing arrangement arrived at after Sudan's former President Omar Al-Bashir was ousted in a coup in 2019. 

The African Union called for an urgent ceasefire with U.S Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging the two sides to find common ground and end the violence.

The United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called on the Sudanese leadership to restrain their troops and de-escalate.