Sudan sends aid flight to quake-hit Syria

Sudan has sent a flight carrying 30 tons of aid to quake-hit Syria, while army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to offer support, officials said Monday.

The supplies sent to Damascus — containing "30 tons of food, medical supplies, blankets and other materials" — followed a similar delivery of aid to Turkey on Friday, the foreign ministry in Khartoum said.

Burhan, who seized power in a 2021 military coup, called Assad "to offer condolences" after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Feb 6.

On Monday, the confirmed death toll rose to 35,224 as officials and medics said 31,643 people had died in Turkey and at least 3,581 in Syria.

Khartoum maintained diplomatic relations with Damascus even after the 2011 suspension of Syria from the Arab League over bloodshed in its civil war.

Since the quake, Arab leaders have reached out to the long-politically isolated Assad.

On Sunday, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan visited Assad in Damascus after the UAE pledged tens of millions of dollars in aid. 

Assad had earlier received a call from his Egyptian counterpart offering support, their first official exchange since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assumed office in 2014.

Similarly, the ruler of Bahrain, which re-established diplomatic relations with Syria in 2018, called Assad in their first official conversation in more than a decade.