Sudan’s military-led government has returned to the capital after nearly three years operating from a war base in eastern Port Sudan.
Sudanese Prime Minister Kamil Idris told reporters on Sunday that the “Government of Hope” had officially returned to Khartoum and would begin efforts to improve services for the besieged city’s residents.
The military was driven out by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) when civil war broke out between the two sides in 2023. Last March, the military recaptured this place with a groundbreaking breakthrough.
Khartoum has been recovering from years of fighting. According to the United Nations, about 5 million people fled the city at the height of the conflict.
Those who did not want to or could not leave described a brutal RSF occupation, including mass looting and fighters occupying civilian homes.
Huge sections of the city remain in ruins. Last October, U.N. official Ugochi Daniels reported that basic services were “barely functional.”
On Sunday, Idris said the government would work to improve electricity, water, healthcare and education in Khartoum.
He also declared that 2026 would be a ‘year of peace’ in Sudan, where at least 150,000 people have died since the outbreak of war.
The United Nations has described the situation as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with around 12 million people forced from their homes.
The war began when the head of the army, General Abdel Fattah-al Burhan, fell out with his deputy and RSF leader, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leading to a vicious struggle for power.
Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have been accused of committing atrocities during the conflict.
International efforts to broker peace have failed and both sides are backed by foreign powers that have poured weapons into the country.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has recently come under special scrutiny for allegedly supporting RSF, which it has strongly denied.
