A powerful explosion was heard on Friday evening in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, which is under the control of the Sudanese army, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent and witnesses. Authorities attributed the incident to the explosion of a landmine left over from the war.
Khartoum has been experiencing relative calm since the army—engaged in conflict with the Rapid Support Forces since April 2023—regained control of the capital last year.
An AFP correspondent in Omdurman, located on the opposite bank of the Nile from Khartoum, reported hearing a loud explosion in central Khartoum.
A witness in the city center described hearing “a single, powerful explosion,” adding that there were no immediate signs of fire or rising smoke.
Residents in other neighborhoods also confirmed hearing the blast.
In a statement, the Sudanese police said that civilians had “set fire to debris in the Burri area in eastern Khartoum, which led to the explosion of a landmine left over from the war.”
The statement added that the incident resulted in “no human or material losses.”
The Burri area is located near several strategic and military sites, including the army’s General Command headquarters and Khartoum International Airport.
The United Nations had previously warned about the spread of “unexploded ordnance” in Khartoum, reporting the presence of landmines throughout the city.
Many of these unexploded objects were left behind by Rapid Support Forces fighters who had taken control of the city in the early days of the war.
In the months following the army’s recapture of the capital in March 2025, the Rapid Support Forces carried out drone strikes on military bases and civilian infrastructure in the city.
However, no such strikes have been recorded in recent months in Khartoum, where life has been gradually returning to normal with the return of 1.7 million displaced people.
The war is approaching its third year, having claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 11 million people, creating the largest displacement and hunger crisis in the world.
