Power cuts and rubble: Millions come home to find Sudan’s capital unlivable

Khartoum – They came home to a war-ruined city determined to rebuild their lives, but a chronic lack of power, water, jobs and medicine has left many residents of Sudan’s capital wishing they had stayed away. About 4 million people fled Khartoum after war broke out between the army and a paramilitary force in 2023, in fighting that reduced large parts of the city to rubble. But the estimated 2.7 million who have returned since the army recaptured Khartoum last year are caught between joy at being home and the harsh realities of living there.