Six Months into War, Sudanese Seek Refuge outside Chaotic Capital

Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
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Six Months into War, Sudanese Seek Refuge outside Chaotic Capital

Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)
Smoke rises over Khartoum, Sudan, on June 8, 2023, as fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces continues. (AP)

Six months after tensions between rival Sudanese generals ignited a devastating war, thousands lie dead, millions are displaced, and the once-thriving capital, Khartoum, is a shadow of its past glory.

When the first bombs fell on April 15, the capital's residents looked on in terror as entire neighborhoods were razed and essential services were paralyzed, exacerbating their misery.

Those who could escape the bloodshed and destruction rushed to the Red Sea coast about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) to the east.

Port Sudan, now home to Sudan's only functioning airport, became a sanctuary for fleeing civilians and a transit hub for foreigners leaving the northeast African country.

Its rows of white colonial buildings were quickly filled with those who left Khartoum, including United Nations staff and government officials setting up makeshift offices.

In late August, they were joined by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, whose fighters are pitted against those of his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the conflict.

Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan since leading a 2021 coup, had spent over four months stuck inside the army headquarters in Khartoum, besieged by Daglo's men.

But even though he has left Khartoum, there has been no let-up in fighting for the capital, as well as the western region of Darfur, where allegations of ethnically motivated attacks have led to an international war crimes investigation.

The United Nations' Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to set up an independent fact-finding mission to probe the accusations.

'Life doesn't stop'

Despite the exodus, millions of people have had little choice but to stay in Khartoum, where their bullet-scarred homes are shaken by daily blasts.

A constant plume of smoke now defines the capital's skyline, while businesses and warehouses lie abandoned, ransacked, and charred.

Before the war, the capital's three districts -- Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North -- were the center of power, infrastructure and industry in the country of 48 million people.

"The war has shown just how much Khartoum had monopolized everything, (and) that's why the banks, the companies and all government stopped working," said urban planner Tarek Ahmed.

But economic analyst Omaima Khaled said that did not mean life had come to a halt.

With no end to the war in sight, "there had to be somewhere else where people's affairs could be managed," she said, and the obvious choice was Port Sudan -- a safe and well-connected city.

"It's first of all geographically far from the war," said Khaled, with fighting mainly taking place in the capital and the western region of Darfur.

It also has a long history of being "Sudan's second largest commercial center," she said, which could "very well make it an economic capital".

But Port Sudan has one crucial flaw: "it's 3,000 kilometers from the country's western border and 2,500 kilometers from its south, in a country that severely lacks an efficient transport network," said the economist.

Sudan's dilapidated road network is as highly centralized as the economy. Avoiding the war-torn capital requires massive circuitous routes around a country three times the size of France.

But the problems do not stop there, according to Port Sudan resident Hend Saleh.

"There's a shortage of drinking water and electricity," she told AFP, with the coastal town's already fragile infrastructure now catering to tens of thousands more.

Port Sudan -- founded in 1905 by British rulers to replace the historic port of Suakin, 60 kilometers away -- "is newer than other Sudanese cities and has a better urban plan and a better service network," according to engineer Fathi Yassin.

But it is burdened by the same shortfalls as the rest of Sudan, where decades of dilapidated infrastructure are adding to the immense impact of war.

Sudan's rainy season, which begins in June, has wreaked havoc on vast swathes of the country, with hundreds dying of cholera and dengue fever while 70 percent of hospitals remain out of service, the United Nations has said.

War spreading south

Unlike other Sudanese cities that draw water from the Nile, Port Sudan relies almost entirely on increasingly unpredictable rainfall.

Its residents have long demanded a connection to the river, which would require 500 kilometers of pipes -- an expense Sudan, already one of the poorest countries in the world before the war, has never been able to afford.

Closer to the Nile, the city of Wad Madani -- 200 kilometers south of Khartoum -- has also emerged as a potential capital.

Wad Madani, the capital Al Jazira state in the fertile heartland south of Khartoum, was the first destination for fleeing Khartoum families in the early weeks of the war.

The state now hosts more than 366,000 displaced people, in a thin string of villages between Khartoum and Wad Madani, as well as the state capital itself.

Interim governor Ismail Awadallah said the city also looked set to absorb more of the economy, with "17 large companies discussing their relocation and even expansion in Wad Madani".

But Wad Madani's economic potential might remain unfulfilled, as the fighting in Khartoum encroaches south.

Authorities on Wednesday announced paramilitaries had taken control of large areas of the Gezira agricultural scheme, only around 35 kilometers northwest of Wad Madani.



Israeli Attack on Beirut Deepens Hezbollah’s Crisis

 A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
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Israeli Attack on Beirut Deepens Hezbollah’s Crisis

 A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)
A man walks next to a destroyed car and damaged buildings at the site that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday March 28, 2025.(AP)

Israel’s attack on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs has put the Iran-backed party in a difficult position.

Stopping attacks on the suburb, known as Dahiyeh, was among the main reasons that led Hezbollah to agree to the ceasefire with Israel in November.

Israel attacked Dahiyeh on Friday for the first time since the ceasefire after rockets were fired against Israel from Lebanon. Hezbollah denied involvement in the attack and no one has claimed responsibility for it. The party believes that attacks are being carried out against Israel to give it an excuse to again wage war on Lebanon.

The strike on the suburb forced Hezbollah to cancel its “Quds Day” commemoration that was set for Friday afternoon. Hezbollah chief Sheikh Naim Qassem was expected to deliver a speech at the event.

This was the first time since 1985 that the party is forced to cancel the commemoration that it usually holds on the final Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

The strike on Dahiyeh will only undermine the relative stability that was restored to the area since November 26 when the ceasefire was announced.

Since then, the area, which was heavily bombarded by Israel during its war on Hezbollah, has gradually been revived, with most houses being renovated and schools and hospitals reopening.

The strike has reawakened concerns that Dahiyeh will again come under Israeli attack should more rockets be fired at the country.

Friday’s attack has also limited Hezbollah’s political options.

Lebanese sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the party “cannot retaliate unilaterally to the strike and will leave it up to the state to handle the situation.”

“Regardless of whether the party can or cannot respond to Israel, any military retaliation on its part will play into Israel’s hands that wants to reignite the war,” they added, saying the Lebanese authorities want to avoid conflict at all costs.

However, Hezbollah’s failure to retaliate “means Israel has free rein to carry out targeted strikes wherever and however it wants undeterred. Dahiyeh will therefore become another area on its list of permanent targets.”

“This will pressure the Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah alike because the strikes will lead to new waves of displacement and stop operations at vital institutions, such as schools and businesses,” they explained.

Ultimately, “Hezbollah has very limited options at the moment. Israel’s ambitions, meanwhile, are growing to strike political agreements with Lebanon that go beyond the security deal that is already in place,” the sources said.