Face of Truth: Khartoum’s Security Between Politics and Development Planning..

Ibrahim Shaghlawi

The war of April 15, 2023, and the widespread security collapse that followed in Khartoum State revealed a clear structural fragility in geography, urban planning, and the political system. This allowed the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to seize vast areas despite the presence of the army and other security apparatuses within the state, necessitating a reevaluation of the concept and mechanisms of security.

This unfortunate reality confirmed the absence of a strategic vision for comprehensive security, which is supposed to connect geography, urban planning, and development policies within an integrated approach to national security.

The unique nature of Khartoum State, which hosts the country’s political and administrative capital, makes its security a matter that exceeds the function of police or direct security procedures. It is the center of sovereign decision-making, the meeting point of the two Niles, a demographic concentration point, and an open, flat city to the south and west. It is geographically divided into three urban areas separated by waterways that do not constitute a real military barrier.

This topographical and structural nature, along with the concentration of most vital institutions in a narrow area, makes Khartoum, according to military experts, vulnerable to field exposure in the absence of long-term structural defenses.

International experiences offer important models for rethinking capital security. In Algeria, according to a security expert, during the “Black Decade” in 1992, the authorities adopted a dual strategy—security and development—by integrating the rural areas surrounding the capital into a productive and security belt. This was achieved through smart population distribution, agricultural infrastructure, and soft surveillance facilities in the rural domain, limiting the ability of armed groups to infiltrate, establish positions, or pose a threat.

In Egypt, the response came through expanding the vital sphere of the capital via major projects like the Peace Canal and Toshka, which were not merely irrigation projects but geopolitical tools that redistributed the population and created a safe, stable urban depth around Cairo.

In this context, the proposed project by Sudanese engineer Othman Haidar Abdelhadi—of which we possess part of a comprehensive study—gains strategic significance as it transcends the engineering aspect towards a holistic geopolitical vision.

The project is based on the idea of diverting the White Nile’s course from south of Khartoum to its north via a canal approximately 470 kilometers long, instead of the current 1700-kilometer stretch.

This modification will create a new agricultural belt estimated at two million feddans, forming a productive and security depth around the capital. The canal, in addition to providing agricultural and economic depth, establishes a natural line of defense against any land threats from the south or west, with the possibility of linking it to smart monitoring centers and advanced checkpoints—without excessively militarizing the civil space.

Moreover, the project contributes to utilizing the vast quantities of seasonal floodwaters wasted annually in Khartoum State, estimated at about 4 million cubic meters. If the canal is designed according to the area’s natural slope, it would offer a sustainable water protection system that enhances security and supports development.

The idea is not isolated from reality, as some historical and geological sources indicate that the proposed route may have once been part of an ancient course through Wadi Al-Muqaddam, reinforcing the project’s environmental and historical feasibility. Its impact on Sudan’s share of Nile water would be minimal, as it does not consume additional water but redirects existing resources and benefits from rain and floodwaters.

Khartoum’s security should not be reduced to redeployment of forces or intensified policing but rather redefined by integrating geography within a comprehensive approach. By transforming water into a natural trench, agriculture into a sustainable barrier, and the countryside into a protection partner, a security-development system can be formed, making the capital more resilient and stable.

The proposed vision repositions Khartoum State within a national project that balances the center and periphery, redistributes demographic and productive weight, and gives the capital greater capacity to absorb shocks—whether military, climatic, or demographic.

According to #Face_of_Truth, Khartoum’s security is a profoundly political matter, tied to the state’s seriousness in adopting long-term strategic planning. The proposed project represents a historic opportunity to redefine the security of Sudan’s capital through an integrated vision that merges politics with development—turning Khartoum into a capital of security and stability, not an exposed arena of conflict. If it receives serious official attention, the proposed project could be a historic turning point in shaping the security of the new capital.

Wishing you well and in good health.

Sunday, August 31, 2025

Shglawi55@gmail.com