Sudan police arrest 200 in Khartoum looting crackdown
July 10, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese police on Thursday said they had arrested 200 people this week in connection with looting and theft in the capital Khartoum.
Police have been redeployed in Khartoum neighbourhoods after complaints of increased looting and theft, amid accusations that members of the security forces were involved.
“Police have arrested nearly 200 undisciplined individuals and habitual criminals in looting and theft operations in Khartoum state this week,” Brigadier General Fath al-Rahman Mohamed al-Tom told the Sudan Tribune.
He said police campaigns were continuing to establish security and stability, and to surround crime hotspots. After these campaigns and large security cordons, which are adjusted based on field information, resulted in the arrest of undisciplined individuals and habitual criminals.
He revealed that the police had recovered large quantities of looted property.
Most houses in Khartoum were looted and robbed when the Rapid Support Forces controlled the state, most of which was carried out under the cover of the forces, before the army recaptured it.
After the voluntary return to several neighbourhoods in Khartoum, complaints of looting carried out by elements wearing military uniforms and using motorcycles have grown.
The spokesman stated that the security situation in Khartoum state is stable, including the last areas recaptured by the army, such as al-Salha, south of Omdurman, where police forces have been deployed in the centre, at posts, and conducting day and night patrols.
He stressed that the deployment “does not mean the final elimination of crime.”
He continued: “Crimes occur even in the largest countries, but the intended stability is the absence of criminal activity that rises to the level of a rampant phenomenon that threatens citizens or impedes voluntary return programs.”
The spokesman acknowledged that there are many challenges facing the police at this stage, chief among them the normalization of civilian life and the return of citizens to their homes to contribute to achieving security, especially with the activation of community centres, in addition to how to hand over the seized loot to its owners.