Khartoum state collects 15,000 bodies from neighbourhoods, schools

December 12, 2025 (KHARTOUM) – An official source at the Khartoum State Ministry of Health said the ministry’s Forensic Medicine Authority has collected and transferred 15,000 bodies from neighbourhoods and schools since April 2024.

The source confirmed to Sudan Tribune that the authority aims to declare Khartoum state free of bodies buried outside cemeteries by mid-2026.

He noted that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had forced civilians to bury their dead in neighbourhoods and schools while controlling several localities in the state.

The campaign to collect bodies in Khartoum began last March.

A campaign was subsequently launched in the Khartoum North (Bahri) locality on Thursday to collect remains buried outside designated cemeteries, under the supervision of the High Committee for Collecting the Remains of the “Battle of Dignity.”

The operation began at Shambat Stadium, attended by Executive Director Abdel Rahman Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the Civil Defence, and the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. It is coordinated with local steering committees and is scheduled to last one week.

Khartoum Forensic Medicine Authority Director Hisham Zain al-Abidin said transferring remains to designated burial sites honoured the deceased, stressing that the state must be cleared of any graves outside official cemeteries.

State authorities say these efforts address the impact of the war, as the RSF prevented citizens from using cemeteries, forcing them to bury relatives in public squares, schools, mosques, and homes.