Sudan: Comboni College reopens in Khartoum

Within hours, the lives of this educational community were turned upside down. Students, their families, teachers and the Comboni community were forced to flee the capital in search of safety as fierce fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) devastated the city, destroying not only buildings and infrastructure but also the hopes and dreams of thousands of people.

Khartoum remained under RSF control until March 2025, when the Sudan Armed Forces recaptured the capital, opening the way for the gradual return of residents and the long process of reconstruction.

When we were finally able to return to Comboni College, the scene before us was heartbreaking. Every electrical cable surrounding our educational campus was stripped away. The water system destroyed. Computers, air conditioners and digital equipment looted. The walls were scarred by hundreds of bullet holes and artillery fire. In the courtyard, where generations of children had once played, laughed and dreamed, lay the bodies of RSF fighters killed during the battle for the area.

Yet, amid such devastation, the Comboni Missionaries also realized how fortunate they had been. Unlike many neighbouring buildings that had been reduced to rubble, burned or severely damaged, the main structures of Comboni College were still standing. They had survived the war and could become the foundation for a new beginning.

On Saturday, July 4, 2026, Comboni College Khartoum announced that the Basic School and High School will reopen in September for the 2026–2027 academic year, welcoming students back after more than three years of forced closure.

The Comboni College of Science and Technology, which had moved its operations to Port Sudan since November 2023, is continuing to seek funding to rehabilitate its facilities in Khartoum. It hopes to resume academic activities in 2027.

The reopening of Comboni College in Khartoum—an institution that has educated generations of Sudanese and South Sudanese students since its foundation in 1929—is far more than the reopening of a school. It is a tangible sign of hope for the nearly six million people of Khartoum State as they strive to rebuild their city, their communities and their future.

Fr Jorge Naranjo, mccj