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Precious archives containing thousands of documents have been destroyed in a fire set by looters this week at Omdurman Ahlia University, once known as the 'Liberated Lands' for its tradition of independent thought and free academia.��

The Muhammad Omar Bashir Centre for Sudanese Studies at Ahlia University was first struck by looting in the first days of the armed conflict between warring generals Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and Mohammed Hamdan Daglo.

"I worked all my life in the centre, serving as an archivist and researcher for the university," said university staff member Abdelgadir Ismail Ahmed.��

Now the collection of historical works, primary sources and doctoral theses has been destroyed.��

I am so angry. About ten years ago, we donated a huge library belonging to my late great grandfather to Mohamed Omer Bashir center for Sudanese studies at Omdurman Ahlia University. The center even organized a little celebration for my family. Now everything is gone!

— Reem -ريم (@ReemWrites)

"The centre had books and papers by eminent Sudanese scholars who have since passed, available to the researchers of today," he continued.��

"Much of the archives that we lost are completely irreplaceable."��

The Ahlia university was, according Sudanese writer Reem Abbas, particularly��dear to residents of Omdurman because it was established and constructed through grassroots funding and popular support.��

“Citizens chipped in, to build a university which was known as the ‘liberated lands’ during the rule of Omar al-Bashir,” said Abbas.��

“Ahlia was a beacon of independent intellectual thought, constantly under pressure. They employed professors who were free thinkers, unable to get jobs at other universities where the government held control,” she told ������.��

“My family donated over 5,000 books from the collection of my grandfather to the centre. What we have lost is part of our history as a country.”

A pattern of looting has emerged across the country, which some Sudanese believe is part of an orchestrated attempt to destroy what remains of the state’s fragile infrastructure.��

For the 6th day in a row: Souq Omdurman continues to burn

— Mohamed Mustafa - محمد مصطفى جامع (@Moh_Gamea)

Other universities, libraries and research centres have been looted in the fighting.��

“It is not a coincidence that these centres of learning and Sudanese knowledge have been targeted,” Abbas said.��

“This feels like an attempt to cripple the country’s economy, and destroy what is left of the infrastructure we have in Sudan.”��
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