The smell of death still hangs over a historic intersection of this once-majestic capital on the Nile. That’s how Gabriele Steinhauser´s article starts in the Wall Street Journal. And that’s only one of the harrowing scenes we encountered as we travelled to Sudan in June, as we were granted one of the rare accesses to the capital. In this country at war since fighting between SAF and RSF erupted in April 2023, everyone’s story testifies of the violence of combats, the depth of the losses, the dangers of escapes and the rampant fear.

Not since the battle for Damascus, more than a decade ago in the Syrian Civil War, has a national capital city been the sustained front line in a major war. The fighting has destroyed large parts of what was once one of Africa’s most populous cities, home to an estimated nine million people and the ministries, banks and corporations that powered Sudan’s political life and economy.