Photo: Collected

KHARTOUM, Jan 11, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Sudan's Prime Minister Kamil Idris 
announced on Sunday the government's return to Khartoum, after nearly three 
years of operating from its wartime capital of Port Sudan.

In the early days of the regular military's war with the paramilitary Rapid 
Support Forces in April 2023, the army-aligned government fled the capital, 
which was quickly overrun by rival troops.

It has pursued a gradual return to Khartoum since the army recaptured the 
city last March.

"Today, we return, and the Government of Hope returns to the national 
capital," Idris told reporters in Khartoum, promising "better services" for 
residents.

For close to two years, the Sudanese 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 were displaced from the city.

Between March and October, 1.2 million people returned to Khartoum, according 
to the United Nations.

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

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

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

According to the UN, the 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.

The conflict has left 11 million people displaced internally and across 
borders, and created the world's largest displacement and hunger crises.