Residents of Sudan’s capital report an alarming spike in robberies, kidnappings and armed assaults amid what analysts call the worst security breakdown since the civil war erupted two years ago.
A new assessment by the U.S.‑based African Defence Forum warns that Khartoum, now nominally controlled from Port Sudan by General Abdel Fattah al‑Burhan, is fragmenting into militia‑run fiefdoms because junta authorities cannot rein in gunmen.
The think‑tank counts 105 armed movements across Sudan, where fighting has killed more than 150,000 people and displaced roughly 15 million according to U.N. figures.
‘Symbolic’ disarmament order ignored
Local outlets say street crime has “risen to frightening levels” despite a Burhan decree—dismissed by critics as purely cosmetic—giving militias two weeks to leave the capital. Social‑media users fear Khartoum and other Burhan‑controlled cities are sliding into a “might‑makes‑right” order that directly contradicts government calls for displaced citizens to return.
Journalist and Sudan analyst Ammar Saeed told Erem News the ruling junta is “trying to repaint a devastated city”, pointing to heavily armed patrols from Darfuri factions aligned with the SAF and from the Islamist al‑Baraa militia. “Civilians live in constant danger,” he said. “Looting and intimidation have soared since Rapid Support Forces pulled back, proving other organised groups were always behind many abuses.”
Saeed warned Khartoum faces “creative chaos” designed to torpedo any attempt at stabilisation. Activists have logged dozens of daily crimes, including incursions by militants linked to earlier atrocities in Darfur who have now clashed among themselves for turf inside the city.
Services in free fall
Basic services mirror the security collapse: chronic water and electricity outages and patchy telecoms have paralysed daily life. Saeed argues talk of reconstruction is “premature until serious steps are taken to disarm irregular forces.”
With militia checkpoints multiplying and no visible plan to restore order, many Khartoum residents say the capital has become unrecognisable—a place where, as one social‑media post put it, “the only law left is the gun.”
