From Rubble to Renewal: Khartoum Rises Again
Two years after being reduced to a ghost city by war, Sudan’s capital is showing signs of life. Workers now sweep streets once littered with bullet casings, replant trees where explosions left craters, and lay bricks over shattered foundations.
The Rapid Support Forces’ retreat in March left Khartoum in darkness, its hospitals stripped of equipment and transformer stations destroyed. But with the return of government control, reconstruction has begun. Prime Minister Kamal Idris pledged to “restore Khartoum as a proud capital,” and the first convoys of workers have started rehabilitating infrastructure.
The United Nations estimates that restoring water and electricity alone will cost hundreds of millions of dollars, with the full rebuilding effort stretching into the billions. Still, the sight of streetlights flickering on and schools repainting their classrooms has brought hope to displaced families returning home.
“Every brick we lay is proof that Khartoum is not dead,” said worker Mohamed Al-Sir, his hands caked with cement. “We want our children to grow up in a city of light, not ruins.”
