Khartoum has lifted its two-year curfew, a gesture toward normalcy in a city that war hollowed out — but the gesture is fragile. More than two million displaced residents have returned to find a capital stripped of power, infrastructure, and safety, while the civil war that drove them away continues to burn beyond the city's edges. Sudan's military government seeks the appearance of restoration, yet the machinery of conflict — internal sweeps, regional accusations, and stalled diplomacy — reminds us that lifting a curfew is not the same as making peace.
Sudan lifts Khartoum curfew as capital rebuilds, but war spreads regionally
Over 5 million people fled Khartoum after war erupted in April 2023; more than 2 million have since returned to find destroyed homes and livelihoods.
The city is trying to function again, but the war remains unresolved.
Mark
So the curfew is gone—does that mean the war is over?
Mimi
No. The fighting in Khartoum itself ended in March 2025, but the broader civil war is still going. It's just moved south and west. The curfew lift is about trying to restore normal life to the capital, not about the conflict ending.
Luke
How many people are we talking about? The source says more than two million returned, but that's out of five million who left. Where are the other three million?
Mimi
That's a fair question. The source doesn't say. We know two million came back, but the displacement is still massive. Many people may not have anywhere to return to, or they're waiting to see if it's actually safe.
Mark
What does "safe" look like right now in Khartoum?
Mimi
Technically safer than during the fighting, but the authorities are still running security sweeps, looking for RSF sleeper cells. You need ID to travel at night. The power is out constantly. Buildings are looted. It's not normal yet.
Luke
The electricity issue—is that actually the RSF's fault, or is the government just blaming them?
Mimi
The government says it's drone attacks and looting of infrastructure. The RSF denies it. We don't have independent verification of who did what. What we know for certain is the power doesn't work.
Mark
And now there's this thing with Chad. Is Sudan actually striking inside Chad?
Luke
Chad says it happened on August 20. Sudan says it didn't and wants an independent investigation. We don't have confirmation either way. But the US is treating it seriously enough to condemn it publicly.
Mimi
The bigger picture is that the war is pulling in neighbors. Sudan and Chad are accusing each other of supporting the RSF. The UAE is involved somehow. It's becoming regional.
Mark
What does the US want?
Mimi
A humanitarian truce, for starters. And they're pushing for an expanded weapons embargo that would cover all of Sudan and ban attack drones. But Sudan's military refuses—they say it would hamstring them against the RSF.
Luke
So there's no off-ramp. The military won't negotiate unless the RSF disarms, the RSF isn't disarming, and now the conflict is spilling into neighboring countries.
Mimi
That's the situation, yes.
Il Polso
- Over five million people fled Khartoum when war erupted in April 2023, and those returning now find looted buildings, constant blackouts, and a city whose basic systems have been gutted.
- Despite the lifted curfew, security forces continue nightly sweeps hunting alleged RSF sleeper cells, meaning the state of emergency has ended in name but not in practice.
- The war is spilling across borders — Chad accused Sudan of striking a military convoy on its territory, has placed its forces on maximum alert, and the two countries are trading denials that resolve nothing.
- Sudan accuses Chad and the UAE of funneling weapons to the RSF through Chadian territory, a charge both deny, though international investigators have documented similar supply patterns.
- US envoy Massad Boulos is pushing for a humanitarian truce and a UN-backed weapons embargo covering all of Sudan, but the Sudanese military has rejected the proposal and refuses peace talks unless the RSF first disarms.
- Khartoum is reopening airports and coaxing back embassies, yet the conflict that emptied the capital remains unresolved, and the regional stakes are rising faster than the reconstruction.
Khartoum has lifted its two-year curfew, a gesture toward normalcy in a city that war hollowed out — but the gesture is fragile. More than two million displaced residents have returned to find a capital stripped of power, infrastructure, and safety, while the civil war that drove them away continues to burn beyond the city's edges. Sudan's military government seeks the appearance of restoration, yet the machinery of conflict — internal sweeps, regional accusations, and stalled diplomacy — reminds us that lifting a curfew is not the same as making peace.
Khartoum is trying to open again. The military government that reclaimed the capital eighteen months ago has lifted the curfew and state of emergency that had sealed the city for more than two years — airports are reopening, embassies and businesses are being invited back. The authorities want the world to see a city returning to itself.
The return is fragile. When war erupted in April 2023, roughly five million people fled Khartoum. More than two million have since come back to find wreckage: buildings looted and gutted, an electricity grid repeatedly struck by drones and stripped of copper wiring, a city without the basic systems that make daily life possible. The government blames the Rapid Support Forces for the destruction; the RSF calls it propaganda. The dispute over responsibility matters less than the fact that residents are living inside the ruin.
Security remains tight. Authorities continue sweeps across greater Khartoum searching for alleged RSF sleeper cells and undocumented individuals, and anyone traveling at night must carry identification. The curfew is gone, but the machinery of control persists.
The conflict is also bleeding outward. On August 20, Chad accused the Sudanese army of striking a military convoy inside Chadian territory and placed its forces on maximum alert. Sudan denied the strike and expressed surprise at being blamed without investigation — a careful denial that does little to ease the tension. Underlying the accusation is a deeper dispute: Sudan claims Chad is allowing the UAE to funnel military supplies to the RSF through Chadian airports and border crossings, charges both countries deny, though international investigators have found consistent patterns.
US Senior Adviser Massad Boulos has grown visibly frustrated. He is pushing both sides toward a humanitarian truce and this month presented a UN Security Council draft resolution that would expand a weapons embargo across all of Sudan and ban attack drones. Sudan's government rejected it, arguing the measure unfairly equates a national army with a paramilitary force. The army also refuses peace talks unless the RSF first disarms — a condition the RSF shows no sign of accepting.
Khartoum's curfew is lifted, and the capital is trying to function. But the war that emptied it continues elsewhere, and the question of whether a city can truly rebuild while the conflict that destroyed it remains unresolved grows harder to avoid.
Khartoum is opening again, or trying to. The military government that reclaimed the capital eighteen months ago has lifted the curfew and state of emergency that had locked the city down for more than two years. Airports are reopening. Embassies and businesses are being coaxed back. The authorities want the world to see a city returning to itself.
But the return is fragile and incomplete. When the war erupted in April 2023, roughly five million people fled Khartoum. More than two million have come back since the fighting in the capital ended in March 2025, according to the International Organization for Migration. What they found was wreckage. Buildings stand looted and gutted. The electricity grid, repeatedly targeted by drone strikes and stripped of copper wiring and fuel by scavengers, fails constantly. Residents trying to rebuild their lives face not just the physical destruction but the grinding reality of a city without power, without functioning infrastructure, without the basic systems that make daily life possible.
The government blames the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group it has been fighting for nearly four years, for much of the damage. Altayeb Saadeldin, a spokesperson for Khartoum's state government, pointed to looting, drone attacks on electricity infrastructure, and the RSF's systematic targeting of fuel and components as reasons for the blackouts. An RSF source dismissed the claims as propaganda. The dispute over who destroyed what matters less than the fact that the city remains broken, and residents are living in it.
Security remains tight despite the lifted curfew. The authorities continue sweeps across greater Khartoum, searching for alleged RSF sleeper cells, undocumented foreigners, and criminals. Anyone traveling at night must carry identification. The state of emergency is gone in name, but the machinery of control remains in place. The government is wary of infiltration, and that wariness shapes daily life.
Meanwhile, the conflict is bleeding beyond Sudan's borders. On August 20, Chad accused the Sudanese army of striking a military convoy inside Chadian territory, roughly 100 kilometers from the border. Chad has put its forces on maximum alert. Sudan denies the strike happened and expressed surprise at being blamed without investigation. The foreign ministry issued a statement affirming the army's constitutional duty to defend Sudan while claiming commitment to respecting neighboring sovereignty—a careful formulation that does little to address the accusation.
The tensions run deeper. Sudan accuses Chad of allowing the UAE to deliver military supplies to the RSF through Chadian airports and border crossings. Both Chad and the UAE deny this, though UN experts and international media investigations have found similar patterns. The accusation and denial circle each other without resolution, but the underlying reality is clear: the war is drawing in neighbors, and the regional stakes are rising.
Massad Boulos, the US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs, has expressed deep concern about the risk to regional stability. He has been pushing both sides to accept a humanitarian truce, but his frustration with the Sudanese military is growing. The army refuses to engage in peace talks unless the RSF disarms and withdraws from occupied territory—a condition the RSF shows no sign of meeting. Boulos condemned the alleged airstrikes inside Chad and called for an end to external military and financial support for both sides. This month, the US presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council that would expand a 2005 weapons embargo from Darfur across all of Sudan and ban attack drones, which both sides now use extensively. Sudan's government rejected the proposal, arguing it unfairly equates the national military with a paramilitary force and would cripple its ability to defend citizens.
Khartoum's curfew is lifted. The capital is trying to function again. But the war that emptied it continues elsewhere, and the regional consequences are becoming harder to contain. The question now is whether a city can rebuild while the conflict that destroyed it remains unresolved.
Citazioni salienti
The targeting of the electricity sector in particular was very significant— Altayeb Saadeldin, Khartoum state government spokesperson
There is no military solution to this conflict—and absolutely no justification for expanding the violence beyond Sudan's borders— Massad Boulos, US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs
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War & Conflict