Sudan's refugees face 'terrifying' realities on return to war-ravaged Khartoum
But that is not the most difficult issue he has had to face since returning to his home two weeks ago from Kassala, in eastern Sudan. He and his family had fled there to escape the war between the country's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
"It's terrifying at night. Homes and streets are engulfed in total darkness. I never leave home after sunset," Mr Salah says.
He insists he will only bring his family back from Kassala once he repairs his war-damaged home, replaces his looted furniture and electrical appliances and, perhaps most importantly, feels that security has improved sufficiently.
A lack of state-supplied electricity is one of many hardships he has endured, alongside the tens of thousands of Sudanese who have returned to the capital after being displaced abroad or elsewhere in Sudan.
Other challenges include the absence of running water, sky-high food prices, scarce healthcare services and a precarious security situation. The RSF still holds positions on the fringes of the capital, from which long-range artillery is occasionally launched at the Nile-side city.
"I am not sure you will actually get this voice note. My battery is at 18 per cent and the signal is very bad. I may have to run up to the roof to send it," Mr Salah tells The National.
Of Sudan's estimated population of 50 million, at least 13 million have been displaced by the war, according to UN figures. These include about three million who have taken refuge abroad, mostly in neighbouring Egypt, Chad, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.
Recent battlefield victories restored the army's control of the capital's three sister cities – Khartoum, Bahri and Omdurman – and the central, agriculture-rich region of Al Jazirah, south of the capital.
The RSF continues to control all of the vast western region of Darfur, apart from the city of El Fasher, as well as parts of Kordofan to the south-west and the southern Blue Nile area.
There are no reliable figures for the number of displaced Sudanese who have returned home, but they are thought to be in the tens of thousands. In many cases, men return on their own to determine whether it is safe enough for their families to return.
They had fled to escape dangers including artillery and rocket fire, street battles and air strikes.
Since the war began in April 2023, the RSF has been accused of looting, assaults, torture and arbitrary arrests in the capital. In some cases, the paramilitary's fighters stand accused of killing civilians. The army and its allied militias also face allegations of abuse or war crimes. They have been accused of execution-style killings of suspected RSF members or sympathisers in areas of the capital taken back from the RSF.
The US has imposed sanctions on both army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan and RSF commander Gen Mohamed Dagalo.
Sudanese who returned to Khartoum have found a city that bears the scars of war, from the charred skeletons of cars, damaged buildings and streets strewn with debris.
"My home has been stripped of its windows, doors, water tank, furniture and the kitchen," says Ali Siddiq, a lecturer at Bahri university who has returned to his home in the Khartoum district of Burri. He lived in Egypt with his family for nearly two years.
"The house's walls need restoration, but it's financially difficult for me at the moment to do the repairs," he adds.
"Most markets in my area are shut and my neighbours haven't come back. The city is deserted, mostly damaged. It's terrifying to live here."
Others, including Ezzedeen Youssef from Khartoum's Al Qadissiya district, are so shocked by the conditions in the city that they have urged friends and family to stay away.
Mukhtar Mohammed, from Khartoum's Al Azhary district, says families with small children or elderly relatives should not return because of the lack of healthcare services.
"There's also the harassment we face at army checkpoints," Mr Ezzedeen adds. "They ask too many questions, many of them unnecessary."
Al Shafie Ahmed reported from Kampala, Uganda
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Khaleej Times
24-06-2025
- Khaleej Times
Gender not main factor in attacks on Egyptian woman pharaoh: Study
She was one of ancient Egypt's most successful rulers, a rare female pharaoh who preceded Cleopatra by 1,500 years, but Queen Hatshepsut's legacy was systematically erased by her stepson successor after her death. The question of why her impressive reign was so methodically scrubbed has attracted significant debate, but in new research published on Monday, University of Toronto scholar Jun Wong argues far too much emphasis has been placed on her gender. "It's quite a romantic question: why was this pharaoh attacked after her death?" Wong told AFP, explaining his interest in a monarch who steered ancient Egypt through a period of extraordinary prosperity. Earlier scholars believed Queen Hatshepsut's stepson Thutmose III unleashed a posthumous campaign of defilement against her out of revenge and hatred, including because he wanted to purge any notion that a woman could successfully rule. "The way in which (Hatshepsut's) reign has been understood has always been colored by her gender," Wong said, referencing beliefs that Thutmose III may have viewed her as "a kind of an evil stepmother." His research, which builds on other recent scholarship and is being published in the journal Antiquity, argues Thutmose III's motivations were far more nuanced, casting further doubt on the theory of backlash against a woman in charge. Hatshepsut ruled Egypt roughly 3,500 years ago, taking over following the death of her husband Thutmose II. She first served as regent to her stepson, the king-in-waiting, but successfully consolidated power in her own right, establishing herself as a female pharaoh. Experts say she expanded trade routes and commissioned extraordinary structures, including an unparallelled mortuary in the Valley of the Kings on the Nile's west bank. Wong reassessed a range of material from damaged statues uncovered during excavations from 1922 to 1928. He said there is no doubt Thutmose III worked to eliminate evidence of Hatshepsut's achievements, but his efforts were "perhaps driven by ritual necessity rather than outright antipathy," Wong said. Thutmose III may have been trying to neutralize the power of his predecessor in a practical and common way, not out of malice. He also found that some of the statues depicting Hatshepsut were likely damaged because later generations wanted to reuse them as building materials. "For a long time, it has been assumed that Hatshepsut's statuary sustained a vindictive attack," Wong said, arguing that a fresh look at the archives suggests "this is not the case."
Al Etihad
04-06-2025
- Al Etihad
UAE strongly condemns attack on humanitarian convoy in North Darfur
4 June 2025 21:35 ABU DHABI (WAM)The UAE has strongly condemned the armed attack on a humanitarian convoy in North a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) strongly condemned all acts of violence against humanitarian personnel who dedicate their lives to serving those in ministry underlined that the targeting of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) convoy is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, and emphasised that humanitarian personnel must be respected and ministry called on the two warring parties - who have shown no regard for the extent of suffering endured by the Sudanese people - to respect their obligations under international law and their commitments under the Jeddah Declaration, and the mechanisms proposed by the Advancing Lifesaving and Peace in Sudan (ALPS) UAE stressed the need to implement immediate steps to protect civilians and facilitate the rapid and unhindered access of essential humanitarian aid through all available ministry underscored the UAE's steadfast and unwavering dedication to support all efforts aimed at reaching a peaceful solution to the ongoing civil war in Sudan, highlighting the importance of an immediate ceasefire and the protection of UAE remains committed to supporting all endeavours to address this catastrophic crisis, and to work alongside regional and international partners to ensure stability and peace for the people of Sudan.
The National
04-06-2025
- The National
UAE condemns aid convoy attack that killed five in Sudan
The UAE on Wednesday condemned an attack on a convoy in Sudan that killed five aid workers, in what it called a "flagrant violation" of the laws of war. The convoy of 15 lorries carrying food to the famine-stricken city of El Fasher came under attack in North Darfur late on Monday. Five were killed and several others injured, said the World Food Programme and Unicef, the two UN agencies involved. It was unclear who was responsible. El Fasher has been under siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since May last year, and famine conditions have been reported in the city and in nearby displacement camps during Sudan's civil war. The UAE's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on both sides in Sudan's war - the army and the RSF - to "respect their obligations" and uphold pledges to protect civilians. The attack was a "flagrant violation of international humanitarian law", and aid personnel "must be respected and protected", the ministry said. It called for "immediate steps to protect civilians and facilitate the rapid and unhindered access of essential humanitarian aid through all available means." The convoy had travelled more than 1,800km from the army's wartime capital of Port Sudan, said the agencies involved, in what would have been the UN's first such entry into the city for more than a year. They were "negotiating access" to El Fasher when the attack came.
