In the battered streets of Khartoum, where burned-out buildings and sandbagged checkpoints still mark the front lines of Sudan’s war, residents carved out a rare moment of calm as they welcomed the first evening of Ramadan.

As the call to prayer echoed from Sanhori mosque, men spread woven mats along the roadside, laying out metal trays of lentils, stewed beans, dates, and flatbread. Neighbours who once hid indoors from shelling and sniper fire now sat shoulder to shoulder, passing dishes and plastic cups of juice as they prepared to break the day’s fast.

“Things are getting better than before. The people in charge at Sanhori mosque brought back our memories, the good moments we used to have; they gave us hope,” said resident Ahmed Dafaa Allah, watching children weave between the mats with jugs of water.

Only months ago, such a gathering would have been impossible. When the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces held much of the capital, streets emptied before dusk and families ate in the dark, fearful of stray bullets and looting. Since the army retook key districts, residents say a fragile normality is returning.

“Last Ramadan, there were no more than two families,” recalled Abdelkader Omar. “Today, we are 13 families breaking the fast together, and that’s in just one street.”

Women, following local custom, prepared Iftar at home, sending pots of food out with sons and nephews to be shared in the communal meal. For many, the act of eating together in public felt like a quiet declaration that the city still belongs to its people, not to the warring factions that have torn it apart.

Yet the hardships of war shadow every plate. The Sudanese pound has collapsed, and while stalls in Khartoum’s central market are again piled with tomatoes, okra, and mangoes, few can afford more than the basics. “People complain about prices, say they’re outrageous. You can find everything, but the cost keeps rising,” said Mohamed, a vendor arranging vegetables under a flickering light.

Families who once fled to safer regions are trickling back to Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, even as fighting intensifies in Kordofan and Darfur. For those now breaking their fast on cracked pavements, the return is less about safety than about reclaiming a sense of home.

On this first night of Ramadan, the war was not forgotten. But for an hour, as prayers rose into the smoky evening air, it was held at bay.