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Over the two years of Sudan's civil war, NPR has been in touch with Duaa Tariq. She's part of a vast network of volunteers called the Emergency Response Rooms, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize last year for their lifesaving work. Like many others, she never left Khartoum, where the fighting between former allies started and which was occupied by the paramilitary group at war with the Sudanese Army. Now the army has retaken the city, and NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu caught back up with Tariq.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE: This was Duaa Tariq's life in the initial weeks of the war. In the day, she sheltered at home from airstrikes and artillery guns. But when fighting subsided at night, she and a group of activists went out into the streets. They'd sing hopeful songs to other residents trapped inside from the fighting, exploding across Khartoum.
DUAA TARIQ: Oh revolutionary, continue chanting. Tell the people of the neighborhood, I'm coming as long as I'm alive. You're safe. Don't be scared.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF JET ENGING ROARING)
AKINWOTU: But then it got too dangerous, and the song stopped.
TARIQ: Actually, my neighborhood also is getting attacked and bombed. Three people were killed within the past 40 minutes in my neighborhood. It's very scary.
AKINWOTU: Throughout the war, she sent voice notes to NPR from her home, where she was sheltering with her family, including her newborn son. Fighting broke out between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group and their former ally, the Sudanese Army, nearly two years ago. Both sides had launched a coup in 2021 against the first civilian-led government in decades, but then they went to war with each other for control of the country.
TARIQ: The bullets are so loud, and the fear on the children's eyes is so - just so frustrating because we can do is to support and provide hugs. But also us - we need to be hugged, but right now, most of the people I know have left Khartoum, seeking shelter and safety. Most of the people I know here are planning to leave the city.
AKINWOTU: The RSF took over Khartoum and carried out unprecedented atrocities, looting the city of virtually everything valuable and carrying out mass killings, sexual violence and torture.
TARIQ: It's shocking. It's traumatizing. It's life changing. It's a completely tough experience.
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AKINWOTU: But the turning point came last month. The Sudanese army recaptured the capital for the first time after gradually advancing across the Khartoum state region.
(CHEERING)
AKINWOTU: As soldiers celebrated, groups of civilians who had endured the wars gradually poured out into eerie streets, and civilians like Duaa Tariq left their homes without fear for the first time.
TARIQ: I went to the main road and celebrated with the people.
AKINWOTU: Much of Khartoum is unrecognizable, swathes of it torched, destroyed and looted. But the recapture by the army has given many residents like Tariq a new sense of freedom...
TARIQ: I did simple things, simple things, but it felt so important and felt so different. It felt so fun. Actually I had fun.
AKINWOTU: ...And the chance to do ordinary things she missed.
TARIQ: I rode a bicycle, and I went grocery shopping without hiding the money in my chest. I was laughing in the streets. I played music. I played music. Before, I was hiding my speakers.
AKINWOTU: The war is still being fought across Sudan, and the toll has been immense. Up to 150,000 people have been killed, and more than 50 million people have been displaced. Hundreds of thousands are suffering famine, and a genocide in the western region of Darfur has been committed by the RSF and allied Arab militias against African ethnic groups, according to the U.N.
TARIQ: We lost so many people - family members, loved ones, friends, neighbors.
AKINWOTU: State services have collapsed, and there is still fear amid widespread reports that the army and allied forces have been killing people suspected of being linked to the RSF. But despite all of this, people remain determined to rebuild their lives and to live with dignity.
TARIQ: It's completely destroyed, but the people are festive. There's a lot of people in the streets now. The city smells like - we're smelling perfumes. People are wearing perfumes now, wearing very nice clothes. And the music is coming from everywhere, the chants, the celebrations.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Non-English language spoken).
TARIQ: And don't forget even when it gets dark and ugly, we're here around you, holding you down.
AKINWOTU: Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR News.
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