Sudan government returns to Khartoum after nearly three years, sets out rebuilding priorities

Sudanese

Prime Minister Kamil Idris announced on Sunday, January 11, that the government has formally returned to the capital, Khartoum, after almost three years of running state affairs from the port city of Port Sudan, where it relocated after civil war erupted in April 2023 and fighting engulfed the capital.

The announcement marks a symbolic shift as the authorities seek to restore normal governance and public services in a war-ravaged capital. Khartoum saw intense fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the early days of the conflict.

According to media reports, speaking to reporters in Khartoum, Idris said, “Today, we return, and the Government of Hope returns to the national capital.”

Also read: Donald Trump, the acting president of Venezuela? US president shares cryptic post on Truth Social

He outlined priorities including improvements in healthcare, reconstruction of hospitals, development of education, and better electricity, water and sanitation services for residents.

The government had relocated its operations to Port Sudan at the start of the war when Khartoum was rapidly taken over by RSF forces. Since then, the city and its environs, including Omdurman and Khartoum North, were the scene of some of the conflict’s most intense battles, displacing millions and damaging infrastructure across wide swaths of the metropolitan area.

The return follows a gradual reassertion of control over the capital by SAF forces, which recaptured key strategic sites including the presidential palace and other government buildings in 2025, enabling a phased restoration of administrative functions.

Also read: Iran protest deaths rise to more than 500, rights group says

According to the United Nations, around 1.2 million people had returned to Khartoum between March and October 2025, though many found basic services still barely functioning and extensive destruction in residential neighborhoods.

While the government has begun holding some official meetings in the capital and launched reconstruction initiatives, the overall security situation remains fragile. The RSF continues to carry out sporadic drone strikes and attacks on infrastructure in and around Khartoum even as violence persists in other regions of Sudan.

The conflict erupted after a breakdown in relations between army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the Rapid Support Forces, triggering a violent power struggle.

Both the Sudanese military and the RSF have faced accusations of carrying out serious abuses during the war.

Multiple international attempts to mediate a peace settlement have so far failed, while both sides are supported by external backers who have supplied weapons, prolonging the conflict.

The conflict has had devastating humanitarian effects, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced nationwide, making Sudan one of the world’s most severe ongoing crises. The government’s return to Khartoum is viewed by officials as a key step toward stabilising governance and rebuilding the capital’s shattered institutions.