JUBA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan said Tuesday that international flight operations into the country have resumed after a temporary halt following the closure of Sudan's airspace amid clashes.
Deng Dau Deng, deputy minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said three airlines had suspended their flights to South Sudan Sunday due to military clashes in neighboring Sudan.
"There are three international airlines to Juba that were affected on Sunday, but they have got their own routing and have arrived in Juba. We have Turkish Airlines, Egyptair, and flydubai; these were three flights that were affected," Dau told foreign diplomats in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.
Since South Sudan gained independence in 2011, the country's airspace has been controlled by Sudan.
Violent clashes erupted on April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and other cities, where the two sides traded accusations of initiating the conflict.
Sudan's civil aviation authority later closed the country's airspace with a suspension of air navigation services within the Khartoum flight information region, forcing the cancellation of flights to and from Sudan.
Major disagreements have recently emerged between the SAF and the RSF, especially over the RSF's integration into the army.
At least 185 people have been killed and more than 1,800 others wounded since the fighting erupted in Khartoum on April 15, according to the United Nations. ■
