Authorities in Sudan’s capital have launched a campaign to exhume human remains from makeshift graves and transfer them to official cemeteries. The effort, which began in early December 2025, addresses the burials of individuals in private yards, streets, and public squares during periods of intense fighting between the Sudanese military and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that made cemeteries inaccessible.
The campaign is being carried out by state and local committees composed of representatives from forensic medicine, Civil Defence, the Sudanese Red Crescent, and neighborhood service committees.
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, the executive director of Khartoum North, told Al Jazeera the campaign aims to address the health and humanitarian situation in the capital region. According to Abdel Rahman, the initiative is being supervised by the High Committee for Collecting the Remains of Those Who Died During the Battle of Dignity.
The process is being conducted in stages, beginning with the identification of informal burial sites. Families are then notified and may appoint a representative to observe the exhumation and reburial. Forensic specialists are supervising the procedures to ensure proper documentation of the remains.
Hisham Zain al-Abidin, director of the Forensic Medicine Authority in Khartoum State, stated that teams began transferring remains after the Sudanese army took control of the state. He told Al Jazeera that officials aim to clear all makeshift graves from Khartoum and its seven districts by the first quarter of 2026.
However, field teams face logistical challenges. Zain al-Abidin cited a shortage of body bags as a potential impediment to the work. He also stated that DNA identification units had been sabotaged by the Rapid Support Forces, complicating the identification of many victims. For unidentified remains, teams are numbering and documenting the bodies before burying them in designated plots.
Local neighborhood committees are playing a key role in the logistics of the operation. Shireen Al-Tayeb Nour Al-Daem, vice president of the Steering and Services Committee in the Shambat neighborhood, said her committee has been surveying graves and collecting data to assist medical teams.
Nour Al-Daem explained that the committee informs victims’ families and coordinates between them and the field teams. She noted that the High Committee has instructed that an exhumation be halted if no relatives of the deceased are present to observe.
The city also faces the public health challenge of unburied bodies remaining in the streets, some of which have decomposed, according to reports.
