Residents in the Sudanese capital welcome the government’s return to the city

By Rédaction Africanews with AP

Sudanese living in Khartoum have welcomed the military-led government’s return to the capital saying it has brought life back to the streets.

Prime minister Kamil Idris on Sunday said the administration would resume work in the city after nearly three years of operating from its wartime base in Port Sudan.

It was forced out of Khartoum by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces when the civil war erupted in 2023.

The army recaptured it in a significant breakthrough last March and has since undertaken a gradual return.

“The prime minister’s decision to return to the capital has sparked significant activity in the city. The universities reopened, leading to an unusual influx of residents,” said Mohamed Yahia.

Fellow resident, Asia Yasser, said life has “somewhat returned to normal”.

“Things are back to how they were before, the streets were empty and there were no people, but now there are people and movement,” she said.

For close to two years, the capital – composed of the three cities of Khartoum, Omdurman, and Khartoum North (Bahri) – was an active battlefield.

Entire neighbourhoods were besieged, rival fighters shot artillery across the Nile River, and millions of people fled the areas.

The United Nations estimates that between March and October, over a million people returned to Khartoum.

Many found a city with barely functioning services, their homes destroyed, and neighbourhoods pockmarked by makeshift cemeteries that authorities are now exhuming.

Idris said the government was committed to improving electricity, water, healthcare, and education services for its residents.

The war is estimated to have killed tens of thousands in the capital alone, but the complete toll is unknown, as many families were forced to bury their dead in makeshift graves.

According to the UN, rehabilitation of the capital’s essential infrastructure would cost some $350 million.

In recent months, the government has held some cabinet meetings in Khartoum and launched reconstruction efforts.

The city has witnessed relative calm, though the RSF has carried out drone strikes, particularly on infrastructure.

Battles rage elsewhere across the vast country. South of Khartoum, the RSF has pushed through the Kordofan region, after dislodging the army from its last stronghold in Darfur last year.