Familiar scenes were seen again in Khartoum, as people gathered in the streets of the war-torn Sudanese capital to break fast on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Fighting first broke out in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Conflict then swept across the country, killing tens of thousands and displacing millions.

In the past two years, Sudan’s capital, consisting of the three cities of Khartoum, Omdurman and Bahri, was ravaged by war until the army retaken it in March last year.

Entire communities were besieged and some were left in ruins as rival militants shot at each other across the Nile.

“Last Ramadan, there were only two families. Today, we have 13 families breaking the fast together, and it’s just on one street,” Abdulkader Omar said.

The businessman returned to his hometown several months after being forced to flee Omdurman.

Like many others, he sat outside on a mat and brought a dish to share with his neighbors.

Only men gather here, while women stay home for iftar.

“The goods are available, but the price compared to wages makes it difficult,” Omar said.

Sudan’s annual inflation rate has been in the low triple digits for years. The 2024 figure is 151%, down from the 2021 peak of 358%.

The currency has also plummeted, from 570 Sudanese pounds to the dollar before the war to 3,500 Sudanese pounds on the black market in 2026.

Soaring prices hit people’s pockets as they cut back on buying fruits and vegetables at Khartoum’s central market.

“People complain about the prices, saying they are ridiculously high. You can find everything, but the costs keep rising,” said Mohammed, a market vendor.

Omar, meanwhile, said he was happy to be back home after so long.

“We found the place to be safe and people were back in their houses,” he said.

-“No one is missing”-

Elsewhere in Omdurman, Hassan Bachir set the table while neighbors spread out mats and waited for the sun to set.

Bashir, 53, returned after fleeing the country last June.

“I went to the Omdurman market today to buy what I needed, and considering what I saw during the war, I didn’t expect it to be like this again,” he said.

He has also been hit hard by rising prices, but stressed that “Sudanese people help each other in many ways”, including through community kitchens.

Around him sat others, each carrying his own dish.

On the table were cups of helo-murr, a bittersweet drink made from cornmeal.

Osman Judi, a journalist who stayed in Omdurman during the war, said the city was “completely different” this year.

By 2025, he said, “there will only be two families on our street,” while today there are 16 families in the home.

“Last year, we were sitting here with a lot of worry: A stray bullet might hit us, or a shell might fall,” recalled Nimeiri Sheikh Taha, whose neighbor’s house was hit.

“No one goes out alone. We move in groups.”

About 400 kilometers to the southwest, fighting continues in Sudan’s Kordofan region, where deadly drone attacks have left local communities in limbo.

But even there, Muslims gather to eat at sunset.

Ahmed Bala from Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, told AFP by phone that he had gathered with 17 families to break the fast.

“Today, despite the severe security situation and occasional drone attacks, no one is missing.”

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