Sudan Government returns to Khartoum after nearly two years of war

As Sudan crosses the symbolic mark of 1,000 days of civil war, the country’s prime minister has announced the official return of the government to the capital, Khartoum.

“We are back today,” Prime Minister Kamel Idris declared on Sunday, calling it the return of a “government of hope” to Sudan’s national capital.

The government was forced to flee Khartoum for Port Sudan in April 2023, after the city fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Over nearly two years of intense fighting, forces loyal to army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane gradually retook the capital, neighborhood by neighborhood, announcing its “liberation” in March 2025.

Appointed prime minister two months later, Kamel Idris now promises a restoration of public services, including the rebuilding of hospitals, schools, water systems, electricity, and sanitation networks. The goal is to revive a city whose infrastructure has been devastated by war.

While more than one million people have returned to Khartoum, the UN warns the conflict persists, with ongoing fighting between the army and RSF forces in Kordofan.