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Stray Bullets Hit 2 Jets at Beirut Airport

A general view shows Beirut international airport, Lebanon. (Reuters)
A general view shows Beirut international airport, Lebanon. (Reuters)
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Stray Bullets Hit 2 Jets at Beirut Airport

A general view shows Beirut international airport, Lebanon. (Reuters)
A general view shows Beirut international airport, Lebanon. (Reuters)

Stray bullets from gunfire celebrations for the new year hit two Middle East Airlines jets parked at Beirut’s international airport causing minor damage to the planes without hurting anyone, an airline official said Sunday.

Intense shooting in the air occurred around midnight Saturday in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon to celebrate the new year despite repeated warnings by officials for residents not to do so.

The two jets are now being fixed at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to the official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. According to The Associated Press, the official said the bullets hit the jets after midnight Saturday.

On Nov. 10, a stray bullet hit an MEA jet while landing in Beirut, causing some material damage. No one among the passengers or crew was hurt, the head of the Lebanese airline company said at the time.

MEA chief said Mohamad El-Hout told reporters earlier this year that the airport often faces such incidents, in addition to birds that fly in the area, endangering aviation.

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IOM: Over 55,000 Displaced Sudanese Return to Southeastern State

File photo of Sudanese refugees (AFP)
File photo of Sudanese refugees (AFP)
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IOM: Over 55,000 Displaced Sudanese Return to Southeastern State

File photo of Sudanese refugees (AFP)
File photo of Sudanese refugees (AFP)

Over 55,000 internally displaced Sudanese have returned to areas across the southeastern state of Sennar, more than a month after the army recaptured the state capital, the UN migration agency said Saturday.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said its field teams "monitored the return of an estimated 55,466 displaced persons to locations across Sennar state" between December 18 and January 10.

Across the entire country, however, the United Nations says 21 months of war have created the world's worst internal displacement crisis, uprooting more than 12 million people, AFP reported.

Famine has been declared in parts of the country, but the risk is spreading for millions more people, including to areas north of Sennar, a UN-backed assessment said last month.

In November, the Sudanese army, battling the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, said it had regained control of Sinja, the Sennar state capital and a key link between army-controlled areas of central and eastern Sudan.

The RSF had controlled Sinja since late June when its attack on Sennar state forced nearly 726,000 people -- many displaced from other states -- to flee, according to the United Nations.

The war in Sudan has killed tens of thousands.

On Thursday, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accusing the army of attacking schools, markets and hospitals, as well as using food deprivation as a weapon of war.

The move came just over a week after Washington also sanctioned RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, accusing his group of committing genocide.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Daglo had been designated for "gross violations of human rights" in Sudan's western Darfur region, "namely the mass rape of civilians by RSF soldiers under his control."