One day, its people left it behind, after days already heavy with ordeal. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had imposed a siege on the city, a blockade marked by multiple forms of hardship. Chief among them was the total ban on the entry of goods and commodities, and most severe of all, the death penalty imposed on anyone attempting to smuggle in supplies essential to sustaining life. Under the weight of suffering and the absence of any horizon of hope, most inhabitants were forced to leave. For some, it was the first departure of their lives.
One night in Babanusa is worth a lifetime, and a single night away from it is the loss of an entire life.
Hamid Suleiman Akour, 45
Among them was Hamid Suleiman Akour, 45, who had spent his entire life roaming the streets of Babanusa in the Al-Qantour neighborhood, never imagining that he would one day leave—let alone embark on a journey into the unknown. Yet at the first opportunity to return, despite unfavorable conditions and heedless of all warnings, Akour made his way back to his city, affectionately known to its people as “Al-Gemeera.” As he told Atar, “One night in Babanusa is worth a lifetime, and a single night away from it is the loss of an entire life.”
“Babanusa is living in a state of near paralysis, suffering an almost total collapse of its infrastructure,” said Khalid Jubara, one of the young men who recently returned to the city. Babanusa fell under RSF control on December 1 of last year after a siege that lasted nearly two years. Since January 2024, the city had witnessed repeated military attempts by the RSF to seize control and reach the 22nd Brigade garrison, while army forces stationed inside continued to repel the attacks, until the city finally fell.
After spending a year and a half moving between Al-Fula, Al-Mujlad, and At-Tuboun, Akour returned to Babanusa to confront the devastation left behind by the war. Everything had changed. The place was no longer the same, nor were the people with whom he had spent the years of his life.
Is return possible?
Most returnees so far are young men checking on their family homes.
Member of the Babanusa Emergency Response Room
Speaking to Atar, a member of the media office of the Babanusa Emergency Response Room (ERR), who requested anonymity, said the pace of civilian return and resettlement remains limited. A significant portion of the city’s residents—whose pre-war population was estimated at more than 177,000—remain displaced. Nevertheless, he confirmed that a notable number of families have returned.
According to him, those still scattered across displacement areas are closely following news from Babanusa, hoping it will signal an acceptable improvement in living conditions and security that would allow them to return.
Another ERR member told Atar that most returnees so far are young men checking on their family homes. However, the absence of basic services and persistent security concerns continue to prevent full family returns. Families who have returned face harsh living conditions, acute shortages of goods and food, and deteriorating security. Some families, he added, have grown accustomed to life in displacement and may not return even if conditions improve.
The ERR has recorded the return of approximately 20,320 citizens from Al-Mujlad, Al-Fula, At-Tuboun, and nearby villages.
Atar’s correspondent observed a gradual increase in return movements to the once-abandoned city. Alongside young men inspecting their homes, some families have also returned—among them the family of Aziza Abu Kambal, who spent about a year and a half displaced between Al-Fula, Al-Mujlad, and smaller towns near Babanusa.
She told Atar that she returned to find her house destroyed. She has since begun building a small makeshift shelter (rakouba) with her children but lacks basic construction materials, which are now almost nonexistent in the city. “Everything has burned,” she said. “I can’t even find the straw needed to build the shelter.”
A city without services
According to Muzammil Hirieka, one of the young men who returned, water and electricity are cut off in most neighbourhoods due to damage to stations and transmission lines, as well as fuel shortages needed to operate generators. He told Atar that the city—after intense military operations and reciprocal shelling—has lost much of its infrastructure, compounded by widespread looting in abandoned neighborhoods.
In December last year, the Babanusa ERR announced that the Teaching Hospital had been taken out of service following shelling and extensive destruction. No medical facilities are currently operating efficiently, forcing residents to seek treatment in Al-Mujlad or Ad-Deain.
Schools are closed; some converted into military barracks or temporary shelters. There are no indications of a resumption of the academic year under current conditions, according to the ERR.
An ERR member told Atar that the scale of destruction at Babanusa Hospital is immense, rendering it completely nonfunctional. The hospital once served thousands from Babanusa and surrounding areas. Its destruction has halted basic healthcare services and deprived patients—especially women, children, and the elderly—of their right to treatment. The continued closure, he warned, threatens a real humanitarian catastrophe as residents begin to return.
Mines on the road back
Landmines are among the biggest obstacles to return.
Source from the Babanusa Emergency Response Room
In mid-January, the ERR warned that remnants of war—landmines, unexploded ordnance, and ammunition debris—remain widespread throughout the city, posing serious risks to civilians. It advised against the return of children, the elderly, and those with chronic or respiratory illnesses, stressing that the warning was advisory and intended to protect the most vulnerable.
A source from the ERR told Atar that landmines are among the biggest obstacles to return. Engineering teams, working with RSF authorities, have reportedly removed more than 2,000 landmines and unexploded materials and cleared some residential areas. However, danger remains high in peripheral zones and near military sites such as the 22nd Brigade headquarters.
A city to live in—or a battlefield?
Jabir Abu Al-Kiram At-Toum, who came to inspect his home, told Atar, “Babanusa today is more a battlefield than a residential city.” Government buildings, the railway, and the historic dairy factory have all been destroyed. “The city needs comprehensive reconstruction before citizens can safely return—especially with the ongoing threat of landmines.”
Muawiya Al-Tahir, who visited his home in Al-Wihda neighbourhood, described the security situation as dire. He said looters previously arrested by RSF-affiliated forces were later freed after armed groups stormed the prison in full public view, without RSF intervention. “They were released in January,” he said, “and are now looting again, even blocking the road between Babanusa and Al-Mujlad.”
A local source added that during a visit by Yousuf Alyan, head of the RSF-appointed civil administration, to distribute food baskets, a group known as the “Peace Force” stormed the site and looted much of the aid in front of RSF forces.
From market to ‘Umm Suwiego’?
Markets are witnessing a near-total absence of goods. Babanusa’s main market has suffered extensive destruction and looting. Small, temporary commercial activities have emerged in peripheral neighbourhoods but fall far short of meeting needs.
Prices have surged to what ERR members describe as “insane” levels, often 100–200 percent higher than in relatively stable areas. The city depends on goods arriving from Ad-Deain or via South Sudan through dangerous routes.
Medicines are distributed free at the Babanusa clinic, but large portions are diverted to the parallel market, worsening shortages.
Vendors roam neighbourhoods selling what little they can, transporting goods by pack animals and carts along treacherous routes that take up to three days—if traders are not robbed. Traders report paying fees at up to ten armed checkpoints, often exceeding the value of the goods themselves.
Recovery of Babanusa
Returnees rely heavily on Starlink devices due to the collapse of telecommunications, with usage rented at 1,000 Sudanese pounds per hour.
Despite overwhelming challenges, the Babanusa ERR launched the “Recovery of Babanusa” campaign in early January. The initiative began with environmental sanitation at the clinic, now serving as a temporary health centre.
The campaign aims to rehabilitate key services—water stations, healthcare, and schools—while addressing psychological recovery and long-term trauma.
Returnees rely heavily on Starlink devices due to the collapse of telecommunications, with usage rented at 1,000 Sudanese pounds per hour. Families depend on bank transfers from abroad to survive rising living costs.
Alongside the ERR, youth initiatives have become increasingly active in efforts to restore normal life and improve the city’s appearance. Initiatives such as the Babanusa Youth Initiative have launched appeals to provide essential support for returnees, assist in rebuilding homes and facilities, and emphasize the importance of backing small scale initiatives capable of reviving movement and economic activity within the city.
In mid January, Yousuf Awadallah Alyan, head of the RSF appointed civil administration, accompanied by the locality’s executive director and representatives of the Sudanese Agency for Relief and Humanitarian Operations, (SARHO), affiliated with the RSF, oversaw the distribution of food baskets to 500 families. During the ceremony, which was attended by local organizations, Alyan urged citizens to return to their homes, claiming that Babanusa was experiencing notable security stability and the availability of basic services.
Local groups such as the “Ashan BabanusaInitiative ”, also known as ‘For Babanusa’, have also stepped up their activities, calling on residents to return voluntarily, take part in reconstruction efforts, and contribute to strengthening community stability.
Despite destroyed homes and worsening conditions, many remain determined to stay. As one returnee said, quoting a local saying: “One is raised by the soil itself.”
| Commodity | Al-Mujlad (SDG) |
Babanusa (SDG) |
| Sorghum (One Malwa) | 3,000 | 15,000 |
| Millet (One Malwa) | 3,500 | 17,000 |
| Onions (One Malwa) | 9,000 | 22,000 |
| Cooking oil (1 pound) | 2,500 | 10,000 |
| Soap (1 bar) | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| Sugar (1 kg) | 21,000 | 35,000 |
| Tea (1 pound) | 6,000 | 18,000 |
| Coffee (1 pound) | 12,000 | 40,000 |
| Lentils (1 kg) | 7,000 | 25,000 |
| Rice (1 kg) | 8,000 | 30,000 |
| Beef (1 kg) | 10,000 | 40,000 (if available) |
| Mutton (1 kg) | 12,000 | 55,000 (if available) |
| Eggs (per piece) | 1,000 | 4,000 |
| Eggs (per tray) | 30,000 | 80,000 |
| Medicines | Al-Mujlad | Babanusa |
| Insulin | 3,000 | Nearly unavailable (reported up to 25,000) |
| Hypertension medication | 2,000 | 10,000 |
| Panadol (strip / solution) | 1,000 / 5,000 | 5,000 / 19,000 |
| Malaria medication (tablets / injections) | 2,000 / 6,000 | 10,000 / 20,000 |
| Cold medication (10 tablets) | 2,000 | 10,000–22,000 |
