Sudan's Capital Khartoum Lies in Ruins as Civil War Enters Fourth Year
Sudan's capital city Khartoum sits largely empty and destroyed, one year after government forces took it back from rival fighters. The presidential palace is burned and crumbling, and much of the city looks like a ghost town as civil war enters its fourth year.
Large parts of Sudan's capital Khartoum remain a devastated ghost town, one year after the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) retook the city from rival fighters. The once-grand presidential palace now sits as a blackened shell, its windows blown out and Islamic-style columns crumbling from fire damage.
The civil war began in 2023 when the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group, turned against Sudan's military government. The fighting erupted after a 2021 military coup left the RSF with less political power than they wanted.
By late 2023, the RSF had seized control of most of Darfur region and large parts of the capital. Government forces have since pushed them back from Khartoum, but the city bears the scars of intense urban warfare.
The conflict has devastated Sudan's western regions, particularly Darfur, where UN investigators have documented severe human rights abuses. Posters of dead soldiers now cover buildings throughout the recaptured capital, a grim reminder of the war's human cost.
As the war enters its fourth year, neither side appears close to victory, leaving Sudan's 45 million people trapped in an escalating humanitarian disaster.
Sudan's ongoing war has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with millions of people forced from their homes. The destruction of the capital shows how completely this conflict has torn apart what was once a functioning country.
International peace efforts continue as fighting spreads to new regions across Sudan.
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