BBC team reaches Khartoum and finds overwhelming destruction
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What is the situation in Khartoum after the army recaptured it?
This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Nick Miles, and in the early hours of Wednesday, the 2nd of April, these are our main stories. The BBC has become one of the first international news organisations to reach the Sudanese capital Khartoum since the army recaptured it and has found overwhelming destruction. A major rebel alliance in Myanmar has declared a month-long ceasefire to allow earthquake relief efforts to take place. Russia has embarked on its biggest military call-up in more than a decade.
Also in this podcast. So what you're trying to do really is to swing the heaviest thing you can at the fastest speed you can to make contact with the ball.
A redesign of the baseball bat and it's already having a huge impact. For two years now, since April 2023, Sudan has been in the midst of a devastating civil war. The fighting is between the country's army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces or RSF. Their fight has caused a huge humanitarian crisis. Around 150,000 are estimated to have been killed and millions of people have become refugees. In the last few days, Sudan's military recaptured the capital city, Khartoum, for the first time since early in the war. Many of those who stayed have been celebrating the end of RSF occupation, but the core of the city is in ruins. A BBC team is one of the first media organisations to enter the city since it changed hands. Our Africa correspondent Barbara Pleidasha and her team travelled with Sudan's army to the city.
How are the locals in Khartoum responding to the recapture?
We're going over the bridge now into central Khartoum, just days after the army recaptured the city from the rapid support forces. We'll be driving straight to the presidential palace, which the RSF occupied for nearly two years. The palace is damaged and dirty. There's dust everywhere, debris on the floors, holes in the ceiling, holes in the wall, broken glass, looted. Even the electric cables have been pulled out of the walls, although still some of the chandeliers are hanging from the ceiling. My name is Aladin Abu Adam Suleiman. Our battalion came from outside Khartoum to defend our country. So this is the red carpet. We're walking into the palace. What did you think when you first came into the palace?
I was really very excited at the Republic Palace. It's my first time in this place. I waited for this place as the Sudanese in general, they wanted to be free as it is a symbol of our dignity.
It's also an important symbol of power. Soldiers here sang and danced, their jubilation erupting as the Muslim Eid holiday began. But their victory came at enormous cost. Central Khartoum is a battered shell. The level of destruction is stunning. Government ministries, banks, towering office blocks, blackened and burned. The tarmac at the international airport, a graveyard of smashed planes.
Further away from the combat zone, scattered celebrations for the Eid holiday spill into the street. For people here, the war is over, even though it continues elsewhere. The army's been accused of atrocities, and reports say tens of thousands fled the fighting here in recent days. But in Khartoum, people celebrate the end of the brutal RSF occupation. Duhat Tariq is a pro-democracy activist, part of the movement that toppled the former military leader Omar al-Bashir. She's been focusing on helping her neighbourhood survive the war.
What challenges do Khartoum residents face after the conflict?
It sure feels like a celebration. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is. All the little girls in their e-dresses, eh?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the situation in Khartoum after the army recaptured it?
0:37–2:27
2
How are the locals in Khartoum responding to the recapture?
2:27–4:50
3
What challenges do Khartoum residents face after the conflict?
4:50–8:04
4
What is the significance of the ceasefire in Myanmar?
8:04–9:20
5
What is happening with the rescue efforts in Myanmar?
9:20–13:58
6
What economic changes are expected in the US?
13:58–32:06