Sudan Army Says Retakes Presidential Palace From RSF

Sudan’s army said it recaptured the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on Friday after a fierce battle.

“Our forces completely destroyed the enemy’s fighters and equipment, and seized large quantities of equipment and weapons,” army spokesman Nabil Abdallah said in a statement broadcast on state television.

Abdallah vowed the army would “continue to progress on all fronts until victory is complete and every inch of our country is purged of the militia and its supporters”.

On social media, soldiers shared videos appearing to be inside the presidential palace, exchanging congratulations. AFP could not immediately verify the footage.

Paramilitary fighters overran the palace in April 2023, when war broke out between the RSF and the army.

At the time, the RSF swiftly took control of Khartoum’s streets, with the army-aligned government fleeing to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

Central Khartoum, where the presidential palace stands alongside ministries and the capital’s business district, has seen fierce fighting in recent months, after army troops surged through the city.

Earlier this week, the army said its forces had merged from the north and south, hemming in the RSF.

“With the army entering the Republican Palace, which means control of central Khartoum, the militia has lost its elite forces,” a military expert told AFP, requesting anonymity for their safety.

The paramilitary had stationed its elite forces and stored ammunition in the former seat of government and symbol of Sudan’s state sovereignty, according to military sources.

“Now the army has destroyed equipment, killed a number of their forces and seized control of one of its most important supply centres in Khartoum,” the expert continued.

In recent months, the army has appeared to turn the tide of the war, first advancing in central Sudan to reclaim territory before shifting focus to Khartoum.

In January, it broke an almost two-year RSF siege of the General Command headquarters, allowing troops to merge with other battalions and encircle the RSF in the city centre.

“What remained of RSF militias have fled into some buildings” in central Khartoum, a military source told AFP, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Nearly two years of war has killed tens of thousands, displaced over 12 million, and triggered the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.