North Darfur Governor denies Unamid no-fly ban

Media reports that the government of North Darfur had imposed a ban on aircraft operated by Unamid in the state’s airspace were denied by Governor Abdelwahid Yousef in El Fasher on Tuesday.
The government’s spokesperson, Khalid Marioud, dismissed the reports about the imposition of an air ban on Unamid planes as untrue, saying the mission is able to fully carry out its work without restrictions.
In his statement, he added that the governor and his government are not authorised to take a decision to ban flights of the peacekeeping mission, saying that the power to make such a decision is confined to the federal government.
“The governor didn’t issue written or verbal directives or orders to ban Unamid flights over the skies of the state,” the statement reads.
In statements to the Sudanese Ashrooq TV, Unamid spokesman Ashraf Eisa denied the imposition of the ban saying the report was “unfounded”.
An official source told Sudan Tribune that all Unamid flights were suspended over the weekend, which it reported on Sunday. Today, several journalists in Khartoum told the news website they had the same information from the same official. They questioned the reason for providing misleading statements.