The Sudanese Army has regained control of the presidential palace in Khartoum from the competing paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, according to military officials.
Videos and images shared on social media and confirmed by AFP depict joyous soldiers waving their weapons, celebrating, and kneeling in prayer. The military seems ready to retake authority over the capital two years after being ousted by its paramilitary adversaries, referred to as the RSF.
Khartoum is the epicentre where the country’s devastating civil war commenced nearly two years ago, witnessing some of the fiercest battles.
Since the onset of the conflict, the RSF has maintained control over significant portions of the capital and the western regions of Sudan.
Regaining Khartoum would represent a significant triumph for the Sudanese Armed Forces and a critical turning point in the ongoing conflict. The army has recently made progress in various areas of central Sudan.
On Thursday, witnesses reported hearing explosions from drone strikes and air assaults near the Republican Palace.
In a video message recorded on Saturday, RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti, pledged to protect the presidential palace and the adjacent territories under his paramilitary force’s control. He warned of potential attacks in several northern cities.
Multiple peace initiatives have failed as both opposing forces remain determined to continue their struggle for control over key regions.
According to the UN, the war has led to the largest humanitarian crisis in the world, with both the RSF and the army being accused of extensive human rights violations.
