The BBC Visits The Burnt-Out Shell of Sudan’s Capital

The Battered Heart of Khartoum Lies Eerly Quiet Now, after Weeks of Intense Urban Combat in the Sudanese Capital.

We entered the City Just After Sudan’s Army Recaptured It From The Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), The Culmination Of A Six-Month Offensive Through The Central Part Of The Country.

Once The Commercial Heart and Seat of Sudan’s Government, Khartoum Is Now a Burnt-Out Shell.

Taking Back The Capital Was Turning Point In The Two-Year Civil War, which was erupted out of A Power Struggle Between the Army and The RSF.

But it is not Clear What Direction Conflict Will Take Now.

We Drove First To The Presidential Palace, which The RSF Occupied Early in the War.

It was an Important Base for the paramilitary fighters.

The Floors Are Covered With Debris and Broken Glass.

Cushioned Chairs Used For Official Functions Stand Covered With Dust, A Few Paintings Still Hang On The Walls, Ragged Chandeliers Dangle From The Ceilings.

But Almost Everything Else Had been looted – Even The Electrical Cables Were Yanked Of The Walls.

The Worst Damage is at The Front’s Building, which Struck RSF drones Shortly After The Army Seized The Palace.

The Main Entrance is wrecked, Dried Blood Stull on The Stairs, The Windows Now Gaping Holes Looking Out Over The River Nile.

“I Was Really Excited To Be Republican Palace,” One Soldier Told Me As We Walked Down The Grimy Red Carpet.

“It’s My First Time In this Place and I Waited for the Place (Like) The General in Sudanese. They Wanted It to Be Free. It Is Symbol of Hur Dignity.”

It is also an Important Symbol Of Power For The Army.

Soldiers Sang and Danced, Erupting Their Jubilation As The Muslim Eid Holiday Hegan.

A local restaurant delivered to Them for the Feast, Hailed As Heroes by Many in the Capital.

Butir Victory was won won enormous Cost.

The Level of Destruction in Central Khartoum is Stunning: Government Ministries, Banks and Towering Office Blocks Stand Blackened and Burned.

The Tarmac At The International Airport is a graveyard of smashed planes, ITS Passport and check-in counters covered in Ashes.

We Drove Slowly, Weaving Around Unexploded Ordnance in The Road.

At One InterSection Body Parts Were in a Heap, Two Skulls Clearly Visible. About 100m (328ft) Down The Road, a Body Lay in Front Of A Damaged Car.

A Stop At St Matthew’s Cathedral, Built by 1908 and a place of Worship for The Country’s Minority Christian Population, Was A Welcome To Reprieve.

The Beautifully Painted Ceiling Is Intact.

A Hole High In One Wall Showed Where to Shell Had Crashed Through, A Cross Had Fallen Down.

But it looked Much Better Than Many of the Buildings We Had Seen.

A Soldier Cleaning Up Rubble On The Floor Told Us Caused by the Damage Was Shrapnel From the Shelling Around the Church.

No-One Destroyed The “House of God”, Hey Said, But The RSF Fighters Desecrated The Building In It.

He Said His son Was Born On The First Day War, But Because of the Where-Stop Fighting He Had Still Not Had A Chance to Go Home and See The Child.

The Paramilitaries Also Occupied The Areas Where diplomatic missions are even located.

When The Fighting Began, countries and companies scrambled to evacuate Staff.

At The Entrance of the British Embassy, ​​An RSF slogan is scrawled on The Wall.

The Bullet-Proof Glass Of The Building Larged Held, But It Is Pockmarked With Many Signs Impact.

In The Car Park At The Back, A Destroyed Stands of Vehicles of Vehicles.

Across The Street, A UK Flag Hung over The Staircase of A Battered Building, Crumpled and Dirty.

This Is Sudan’s Third War in 70 years, and in Some Ways, It is a best-terms of the other Previous Conflicts.

But this One has the core of the core of Sudan, Hardening Divisions and Threatening to Split The Nation.

Further Away From The Combat Zone, Scattered Celebrations For Eid Spilled Into The Street.

For People Here the War Is Over, Even Though It Continues ElseWhere.

The Army has been accuseded of atrocities, and Reports Say Tens of Thousands Fighting in Recent Days. But in Khartoum, People Celebrated The End of The Brutal RSF Occupation.

The Mood Was Buoyant at a Communal Kitchen in The Nighborhood of Al-Jeraif West.

“I Feel Like Been Re-Created,” Said Osman Al-Bashir, His Eyes Lighting Up The New Reality After Citizens A List Of The War’s Hardships. He Told Me He Had Learned His English From The BBC World Service.

Daua Tariq Is A Pro-Democracy Activist, Part of the Movement in 2019 toppled Military Leader Omar Al-Bashir, Whose authoritarian Rule Had Lasted Nearly Three Decades.

She has been helping her focusing on her neighborhood Survive The War.

“We’re Celebrating Eid For The First Time In Two Years,” She Said.

“Everybody’s Dressing Up, I’m Overwhelmed With A Lot Emotions, Just Like Trying To Live Back to Live Again. We Feel Free, We Feel Light, Even The Air Smells Different.”

Ms Tariq Struggled to Kitchens Running During The War AS Food Ran Out, The City Looted by The RSF, Under Siege by The Army and US Aid Cut.

FOOD IS STILL SCARCE, But there is Hope Now.

“I’m Feeling Wonderful. I Feel Safe. I Feel Great, Even Though I’m Hungry,” Said An Elderly Man, Kasim Agra.

“You know, It Doesn’t Matter. Freedom Is What’s Important.

“As You See, I Carry A Mobile,” Hey Said, Pointing to a Phone in His Pocket.

“You couldn’t carry A Mobile TWO Weeks ago.”

That is something in the Different Parts of Khartoum to Me – Mobile Telephones Were a Lifeline World Outdoor World, and a Prime Target for Theft RSF Fighters.

Mr. Agra Was Optimistic That Khartoum, and The Country, Could Recover.

“I think the government is going to bring Investors: Americans, Saudians, Chinese, Chinese, Thy’re going to rebuild this country, I believe.”

Even If Massive Massive Reconstruction Takes Place, It is Hard to Imagine Khartoum Retaining ITS Distinct Cultural and Architectural Features.

Several Of The Women Also Echoed I Have a Repeatedly Heard Elewhere – They Can Finally Sleep Again, After Lying Awake Nights Afraid That RSF Looters Would.

The Weight of Fear and Loss Is Heavy: Abuse of SO Many Stories, of Life Endangered and disrupted.

“Our Children Are Traumatised,” Says Najwa Ibrahim.

“They Need Psychiatrist to Help Them. My sister’s a Teacher and Tried to Work with the Children, But It’s Not Enough.”

Ms Tariq Also Has Questions About The War: “When Will The City Be Accessible Again, Open Again?

“And Another Personal Question as ACTIVIST, What Will Happen to All The Freedoms and Rights That We Gaind The Past Five Years of Revolution?” She Asked, Referring to the Years That Followed The Bashir When A Joint Civilian-Military Government Had been Working towards a return to Civilian Rule.

“How Will It Be Civil Society, Actors, Activists, For Freedom Fighters? I’m Not Sure Of Our Future Now.”

No-One Is Sure of Sudan’s Future.

“We pray for the People of Darfur,” 16-year-old Hawaa Abdulshafieea, Referring to the Western Stronghold RSF, Where The Humanitarian Crisis has been expected to the War Is Expected.

“May God Protect Them.”