Khartoum — "We suffer from deplorable living conditions." Some citizens only eat one meal of lentils or porridge a day provided by local soup kitchens, known in Arabic as takaya. "Sometimes they do not eat a meal for two days," said Nawal Abdelrahman, a housewife from El Kalakla in southern Khartoum, in an interview with Radio Dabanga yesterday.
High prices, lack of income and job opportunities, and no humanitarian aid are causing a "terrible situation." Looting and extrajudicial killings by people "affiliated with the RSF" were also reported by residents.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are currently controlling El Kalakla and large parts of Khartoum, while the army forces in the armoured corps continue their operations to the south and north. On October 4, Radio Dabanga reported the presence of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in the neighbourhood, as part of an attempt to break the RSF siege of central Khartoum and reach the General Command in the northeastern part of downtown the city.
An El Kalakla resident confirmed to Radio Dabanga that clashes between the RSF and SAF are not currently taking place in their neighbourhood and the sounds of gunfire and shelling are far away.
Nonetheless, in interviews conducted by Radio Dabanga, several citizens in El Kalakla complain of deteriorating living standards, poor health and security, a lack of cash, and communications and electricity blackouts. Communications networks have reportedly been cut off for over ten months.
Looting and extrajudicial killing
Citizens reported extrajudicial killings of many citizens in El Kalakla whilst they were being looted. "Especially owners of bakeries and shops are subject to looting and killing," one resident told Radio Dabanga. As a result, most shops in the area have closed down. El Kalakla market currently closes at 13:00 for fear of looting, which generally occurs late at night, the resident said.
Traders said that a murder took place in the El Kalakla Laffa market last week during a looting operation. An eyewitness told Radio Dabanga that a citizen was shot after he intervened and tried to dissuade the gunmen from looting the store. He reportedly died of his wounds. The relatives of the man closed the market on October 15, demanding the arrest of the killer, who was later handed over to the authorities.
Looting and killing is being carried out by "outlaws" affiliated with the RSF, according to residents. One killing took take place in front of officials affiliated with the RSF in Jebel Aulia locality, a resident told Radio Dabanga. They allegedly did not take any action to stop the killing.
On September 16, Radio Dabanga reported on systematic looting in Khartoum Bahri by RSF soldiers and affiliated groups. Radio Dabanga has been unable to obtain a response from RSF officials in Khartoum.
Malnutrition
Many residents said the health situation in El Kalakla is deteriorating. Abdelrahman said that many children have died from malnutrition, the health of people with chronic diseases is getting worse, and healthy people are too exhausted to work due to hunger and disease.
At least 13 children have died of malnutrition in the last two weeks. In September, El Kalakla El Gubba Emergency Room revealed that 7,216 children had been affected by malnutrition since the beginning of 2024. Medical follow-up at the centre reportedly alleviated malnutrition rates in 465 children. Earlier that month, the emergency room and local Resistance Committees issued a distress call regarding food supply shortages, due to the siege of neighbourhoods in southwestern Khartoum.
Abdelrahman told Radio Dabanga that soup kitchens operate intermittently due to the scarcity of funding and intermittent water supply. Large numbers of residents depend on the daily meal of lentils or porridge that they provide each day. "A lot of people do not find anything to eat if the kitchen is shut down, so if there is a sustained power outage we use firewood for cooking." Due to a charcoal shortage, there has been an increase in the use of firewood, and therefore the felling of trees, in the neighbourhood.
Price drops
There has reportedly been a decrease in commodity prices recently. A kilogramme of lamb costs SDG14,000 and veal SDG8,000. On August 11, Radio Dabanga reported that a kilogramme of lamb cost SDG18,000 and veal SDG12,000 in El Salama neighbourhood in southern Khartoum.
Residents of El Kalakla also reported a slight decrease in sugar prices from SDG7,000 to SDG4,500. The price of a kilo of tomatoes is SDG4,000 pounds. Bread is currently SDG1,000 for five loaves, following a decrease in the price of wheat and an increase in the price of millet.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
Abdelrahman downplayed the importance of the decrease in prices due to the lack of sources of income and cash in Khartoum.
Fevers and malaria
The new outbreaks of dengue fever, malaria, typhoid and relapsing fever in Khartoum's Southern Belt* has affected a large number of El Kalakla residents. They informed Radio Dabanga of a significant increase in the price of medicines due to a severe shortage, The malaria medicine rose from SDG2,000 to SDG8,000 this week.
On October 6, El Kalakla EL Gubba Emergency Room revealed in a report that the El Shaheed Center, from which the MSF recently withdrew their staff due to increased insecurity, received over 220 cases of dengue fever and approximately 1,700 cases of malaria in September.
Residents expressed their satisfaction with the campaign to vaccinate children against cholera, which landed on October 5 in Port Sudan, chartered by UNICEF.
*Khartoum's Southern Belt is part of the periphery of the capital inhabited by people earlier displaced by wars in Darfur, Kordofan, and Blue Nile region and South Sudanese refugees, and by impoverished farmers from various parts of the country who lost their lands to banks.
