Mohanad Hashim

Welcome to the documentary podcast from the BBC World Service.

I'm Mohannad Hashim on assignment in Sudan.

For many Sudanese, this is the rude home to Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and a fabled city battered by war.

We've been driving across the desert for a thousand kilometers.

We've come through a sandstorm, and now we're following the River Nile.

Off to my left stand some of Sudan's own ancient pyramids.

Ahead lies Khartoum.

The city was once home to an estimated 8 million people.

But in 2023, it became the epicenter of a brutal war, which engulfed much of the country.

Millions fled the city as it was wrecked by fighting.

Now, one year after it was recaptured by government forces, I'm on my way home to Khartoum.

We're about to cross the White Nile Bridge into Khartoum.

To our right here is the White Nile, and to our left, at that spot is where the White Nile and the Blue Nile meet, and that's the Nile proper heading north.

And the destruction is visible on the eastern bank in Khartoum.

I dread how grim it will look.

So how did this happen?

This tragedy actually began with hope.

In 2018, people took to the streets to try to end the decades-long rule of General Omar al-Bashir.

Though backed by the army, Bashir was worried, so as an extra insurance, his regime took a fateful step.

It called into Khartoum a powerful paramilitary force that it had used to battle rebellion in Darfur in western Sudan, a campaign that led to accusations of genocide.