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Commercial Plane from Türkiye Lands in Damascus for 1st Time in 13 Years

A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
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Commercial Plane from Türkiye Lands in Damascus for 1st Time in 13 Years

A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)
A Turkish Airlines aircraft carrying a diplomatic delegation from Ankara and an aid shipment provided by the Turkish Red Crescent, lands at the Damascus International Airport in the Syrian capital on January 23, 2025. (Photo by Bakr ALKASEM / AFP)

A commercial plane from Türkiye landed in Damascus for the first time in 13 years on Thursday, Syrian state media said.
The Turkish Airlines plane flew from Istanbul to the Syrian capital, SANA reported, two weeks after the first international commercial flight landed, from Qatar, since former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Ankara backed opposition groups in northwestern Syria that fought against Assad and his allies during the uprising-turned-conflict and never restored ties, even when most Mideast countries did in 2023.
Now Türkiye, a key ally of the new authorities under Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, has expressed its intention to invest in Syria’s economy and help its ailing electricity and energy sectors.

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Arab World

Sudan Army, RSF Trade Blames for Fires at Khartoum Refinery

FILE PHOTO: Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Sudan Army, RSF Trade Blames for Fires at Khartoum Refinery

FILE PHOTO: Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Plumes of smoke rise during clashes between the Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum, Sudan, September 26, 2024. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

The Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Thursday accused each other of attacking the Khartoum refinery in Al-Jaili.

The army and the forces led by commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo have traded blame since the civil conflict erupted almost two years ago.

"The terrorist militia of Al-Dagalo deliberately set fire to the Khartoum refinery in Al-Jaili this morning in a desperate attempt to destroy the infrastructures of this country, after despairing of achieving its illusions of seizing its resources and land," the Sudanese army said in a post on X.

Meanwhile, the RSF said the army launched airstrikes on the refinery.

"The ongoing aerial bombardment of the refinery, the latest of which was this morning, which led to its destruction, represents a full-fledged war crime," Reuters quoted the RSF as saying in a statement.

Earlier this month, the army and allied forces recaptured the state capital Wad Madani from the RSF, a strategic city that could mark a turning point in the ethnic violence that has caused the world's largest internal displacement crisis.

The army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021, removing Sudan's civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces.