Al-Tahir al-Mardi rejoins family as Khartoum returnees face ruins
A lead video says Sudanese journalist Al-Tahir al-Mardi has reunited with his family in Khartoum after three years of separation caused by Sudan’s war. The personal reunion sits inside a wider, fragile return to the capital: the Sudanese army said it had retaken Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces in 2025, while humanitarian sources say residents are going back to neighbourhoods where homes, power systems, hospitals and water services have been badly damaged. The European Commission describes Sudan as the world’s largest displacement crisis, with over 9 million people displaced inside the country and more than 4.4 million refugees in neighbouring states. The return to Khartoum is therefore not a clean post-war moment. It is a test of whether civilians can rebuild family life in a capital still shaped by insecurity, destroyed infrastructure, unexploded ordnance, disease risk and a conflict that continues elsewhere in Sudan.
Trust & Evidence📚 7 sources· ✓ Editor reviewed· 🧠 AI-checked· Trust status: not yet independently verifiedView evidence & verification Hide
Verification record
- 📚 7 verified sources — Al Jazeera - Al Jazeera journalist reunited with family in Khartoum after years of war · AP News - War-displaced Sudanese return to shattered Khartoum eager to rebuild lives and homes · AP News - Drone strikes kill over 1,000 civilians in Sudan in the first 5 months of 2026, UN rights chief says · European Commission Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations - Sudan …
- 🧠 High confidence — AI-checked, editor-approved
- 🇧🇪 Belgian impact: Low
- 📜 Provenance recorded & timestamped
Evidence is generated from the OIS evidence chain and reviewed before appearing on Belgium Pulse.
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About this story
Al-Tahir al-Mardi (Sudanese journalist identified in the lead video as working for Al Jazeera) is the individual whose family reunion anchors the story. Khartoum (Sudan’s capital at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile) became a main battlefield after fighting erupted in April 2023. Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF (Sudan’s regular military led during the war by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan), has fought the Rapid Support Forces. Rapid Support Forces, or RSF (a paramilitary force led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti), grew out of Darfur militia structures and became a national power centre. Port Sudan (Red Sea city used by the army-aligned authorities as a wartime base) became a substitute seat of government during the capital’s worst fighting. Darfur (western Sudan region with a long history of mass violence and displacement) remains central to the humanitarian emergency. Tawila (North Darfur town hosting a vast displacement camp) has become a symbol of the crisis beyond Khartoum.
How to read this story
The history
The current war began on 15 April 2023, when a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces became open conflict in Khartoum and other regions. Sudan had already passed through the 2019 overthrow of Omar al-Bashir, the 2021 military coup and repeated failed transition efforts. In March 2025, the army said it had recaptured key Khartoum sites including the presidential palace and airport. Earlier precedents matter: Darfur’s mass violence from 2003 onward produced long-running displacement, sanctions and international criminal scrutiny, and today’s conflict has revived many of those patterns on a wider national scale.
The geopolitics
Sudan’s war sits at the intersection of state collapse, Red Sea security, Gulf influence, arms flows and migration pressure across northeast Africa. Khartoum’s partial return does not end the conflict; it changes the map of power while violence and displacement persist in Darfur and Kordofan. For Europe, instability affects humanitarian budgets, regional partnerships and sanctions policy.
Why now
The trigger is the 17 June 2026 lead video showing Al-Tahir al-Mardi’s reunion in Khartoum. Its timing matters because the capital has moved from active frontline symbol to return-and-reconstruction test while the wider war remains unresolved.
What to watch
Watch whether basic services return in Khartoum, whether drone attacks or unexploded ordnance undermine civilian returns, whether EU sanctions listings expand, and whether humanitarian access improves in Darfur, Kordofan and Blue Nile. Any credible ceasefire channel would be the larger signal.
International angle
The European dimension is direct but secondary: the European Commission says the EU has allocated humanitarian funding for Sudan and neighbouring countries, while the Council Decision states that EU sanctions target people linked to acts undermining Sudan’s stability and transition. Brussels matters here as the seat of institutions coordinating aid, sanctions and diplomatic language.
What this means for you
For Belgian and EU readers, nothing changes at household level, but the story informs aid, asylum and sanctions debates. NGOs and diaspora groups may face continuing demand for support. Businesses and banks should treat Sudan-related transactions with care because EU restrictive measures remain active and can be updated as the conflict evolves.
What happens next
Returnees are expected to keep testing whether Khartoum is livable as electricity, water, health services and unexploded-ordnance clearance remain uneven. EU institutions could continue combining humanitarian funding with sanctions and diplomacy. The larger question is whether the SAF-RSF war keeps shifting toward Darfur and Kordofan while the capital becomes a damaged but politically symbolic reconstruction site.
Potential consequences
If Khartoum’s return accelerates without services, families could face a second crisis of unsafe housing, disease, unaffordable water and weak healthcare. If reconstruction becomes tied to military legitimacy rather than civilian recovery, aid access and accountability may suffer. For the EU, continued deterioration could mean higher humanitarian costs, more sanctions work, and renewed debate over asylum, conflict mediation and arms-flow enforcement.
Opposing perspectives
- European Commission humanitarian officials
The European Commission humanitarian page frames Sudan as the world’s largest displacement crisis and argues that aid, civilian protection, humanitarian access and pressure on the parties must remain the priority. In this view, returns to Khartoum are not proof of recovery unless basic services, safety and access for aid workers are restored.
- EU Council foreign-policy institutions
The Council Decision states that restrictive measures target actors undermining Sudan’s stability and political transition. This frame treats the conflict not only as a relief emergency but as a sanctions and accountability file, where Brussels can use listings, asset freezes and travel bans alongside humanitarian funding.
- Sudan’s army-aligned foreign ministry
The army-aligned foreign ministry criticised the Berlin donor process for insufficient consultation with Sudanese authorities. That view presents international diplomacy as potentially paternalistic if it funds or designs responses around Sudan without the recognised state institutions playing a central role.
Timeline
- 2023-04-15·War broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum and elsewhere.
- 2025-03-26·The Sudanese army said Khartoum was free after retaking key sites including the airport, according to corroborating reports.
- 2026-01-29·The Council of the European Union adopted Decision (CFSP) 2026/254, adding Sudan-related sanctions listings.
- 2026-04-15·The European Commission said the EU and member states pledged over €812 million in response to the Sudan crisis.
- 2026-06-17·The lead video said Al-Tahir al-Mardi had reunited with his family in Khartoum after three years of separation.
Glossary
- Council Decision (CFSP)
- A legally binding EU foreign-policy act used by member states to set positions such as sanctions, travel bans or asset freezes.
- DG ECHO
- The European Commission department responsible for EU humanitarian aid and civil protection operations.
- Restrictive measures
- EU sanctions such as asset freezes, travel bans or limits on economic dealings with listed people or entities.
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.