BBC goes into the burnt capital shell

The heart of the devastating hose is now frightening now, after weeks of intense urban fighting in the Sudanese capital.

We entered the city a few days after the Sudan Army regained the semi -military support forces (RSF), which was the coronation of a six -month attack through the central part of the country.

Once the commercial heart and the seat of the government of Sudan are now, Khartoum has now become a burning shell.

The restoration of the capital was a turning point in the civil war for two years, which erupted from the struggle of power between the army and RSF, It is estimated that she claimed at least 150,000 people.

However – with the completion of the celebrations of the feast in the streets of the capital and people here they consider the war has ended – it is not clear what direction that the conflict will require now.

We first traveled to the presidential palace, which RSF was early in the war.

It was an important base for semi -military fighters.

The floors are covered with debris and broken glass.

The aforementioned chairs are still used for official functions covered with dust, some paintings are still hanging on the walls, and rough chandeliers hang from the roofs.

But almost everything was looted – even the electric cables came out of the walls.

The worst harm is at the front of the building, which was struck by RSF drones shortly after the army seized the palace.

The main entrance is broken, dried blood is still visible on the stairs, and windows are now swinging holes looking at the Nile.

One of the soldiers told me while we were walking on the dark red carpet: “I was very excited to be in the Republican Palace.”

“It is my first time in this place and I waited for this place (like) the Sudanese in general. They wanted to be free. It is a symbol of our dignity.”

It is also an important symbol of the army.

The soldiers sang and danced, and they devised them with the beginning of the Muslim Eid holiday.

A local restaurant delivered a feast for them, and he praised them as heroes by many in the capital.

But their victory won a huge cost.

The level of destruction in the amazing center of Khartoum: government ministries, banks, tall offices and burning offices stand.

The airport runway at the international airport is a cemetery of shattered aircraft, its passport, and the applicable checkpoints covered with ash.

We traveled slowly, weaving around the uninterrupted munitions on the road.

In one of the intersection of the parts of the body was in a pile, the clarity of clear skulls. About 100 meters (328 feet) on the road, the body falls in front of a damaged car.

The stopping of St. Matthew Cathedral, which was built by the British in 1908 and a place of worship for the Christian population in the country, was a welcome.

Beautifully painted ceiling.

A high hole in one wall showed the place where a shell crashed, a cross fell.

But it seemed much better than many of the buildings we saw.

One of the two soldiers who cleans the rubble on Earth told us that most of the damage caused by the fragments of the bombing around the church.

He said that no one destroyed the “House of God”, but the RSF fighters desecrated the building by defecating it.

He said that his son was born on the first day of the war, but because of the fighting without stopping, he had no opportunity to return home and see the child.

Palfation forces also occupied the areas where diplomatic missions are located.

When the fighting began, countries and companies stood to evacuate employees.

At the entrance to the British embassy, ​​the RSF logo is shipped on the wall.

A cup of bullet -resistant building is largely preserved, but it is distinguished by many signs of influence.

In the parking lot in the back, a fleet of vehicles is destroyed.

Through the street, a sign in the United Kingdom was hung over the devastating, meter and dirty building staircase.

This is the third civil war for Sudan, 70 years ago, and in some respects, it is worse than any of the others – as it has fought previous conflicts in other parts of the country.

But this one has tore the heart of Sudan, the stiffness of divisions and the threat to divide the nation.

Away from the fighting area, the celebrations spread to the feast clung to the street.

For people here the war ended, although it continues elsewhere.

The army has been accused of atrocities, and reports suggest that tens of thousands have fled the fighting in recent days. But in Khartoum, people celebrated the end of the zebra.

Mood was also a mood in a shared kitchen in the Jerif West neighborhood.

“I feel that I am re -created,” said Othman Al -Bashaer. He told me that he learned his English from BBC World.

Dua Tariq is a pro -democracy activist, and he is part of the movement that was overthrown in 2019, the leader of the military, Omar Al -Bashir, whose authoritarian rule continued approximately three decades.

She focused on helping her neighborhood to survive in the war.

“We celebrate the first time in two years,” she said.

“Everyone wears clothes, including I! I am soaked in a lot of feelings, just like trying to learn how to live again. We feel freedom, we feel light, even the different smells.”

Mrs. Tariq struggled to keep kitchens during the war as the food was running out, as the city was looted by RSF, under the siege by the army and cut American aid.

Food is still rare, but there is hope now.

“I feel great. I feel safe. I feel satisfied, although I am hungry,” said Casim Agra.

You know, it does not matter. Freedom is important.

“As you can, I have a mobile phone,” he said, referring to a phone in his pocket.

“You cannot carry a mobile phone about two weeks ago.”

This is something that many people told me in different parts of the hose – mobile phones were a lifeline for the outside world, and a major goal of theft by RSF fighters.

Mr. Agura was optimistic that Khartoum and the country could recover.

“I think the government will bring investors: Americans, Saudis, Canadians, Chinese, will rebuild this country, I think.”

Even if this tremendous reconstruction occurs, it is difficult to imagine that Khartoum maintains its distinctive cultural and architectural features.

Many women also repeated something I heard over and over again elsewhere – they could finally sleep again, after the nights were afraid of being divided RSF.

The weight of fear and loss is heavy: a lot of abuse stories, endangered life and disruption.

“Our children are shocked,” says Najwa Ibrahim.

“They need psychiatrists to help them. My sister is a teacher and I tried to work with children, but this is not enough.”

Mrs. Tariq also has questions about the impact of the war: “When will the city be able to reach again, open again?

And another personality issue as active, what will happen to all the freedoms and rights that we have acquired over the past five years of the revolution? ” I asked, referring to the years that followed the overthrow of Bashir when a joint civilian government was working to return to civil rule.

“How will this be again for civil society, actors, and activists, for freedom fighters? I am not sure of our future now.”

No one is sure of the future of Sudan.

“We pray for the people of Darfur,” said Hawa Abdel -Hawaf, a 16 -year -old, in reference to the Western stronghold of RSF, where the humanitarian crisis was worse, and where the war axis is expected to turn.

“May God protect them.”