Sudanese army had long been on the back foot but has recently been making gains and has retaken territory from the RSF
\n Khartoum
\nThe Sudanese army seized full control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, it said in a statement, in what would be a major gain in a two-year-old conflict with a rival armed group that has threatened to partition the country.
\nThe paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) said hours later that it remained in the vicinity of the palace, and that it had launched an attack that had killed dozens of army soldiers inside. Army sources said the fighters were about 400 metres away. They said the army\u2019s forces had suffered a drone attack that killed several soldiers as well as three journalists from state television.
\nThe army had long been on the back foot but has recently been making gains and has retaken territory from the RSF in the centre of the country.
\nMeanwhile, the RSF has consolidated control in the west, hardening battle lines and moving the country towards de facto partition. The RSF is working to set up a parallel government in areas it controls, although that is not expected to receive widespread international recognition.
\nThe RSF rapidly seized the presidential palace in Khartoum, along with the rest of the city, after war broke out in April 2023 over the paramilitary\u2019s integration into the armed forces.
\nThe army shared videos of soldiers cheering on the palace grounds, its glass windows shattered and walls pockmarked with bullet holes. Images showed the cladding of the recently constructed palace torn off by explosions.
\nMany Sudanese welcomed the army\u2019s statement that it had control of the palace.
\n\u201cThe liberation of the palace is the best news I\u2019ve heard since the start of the war because it means the start of the army controlling the rest of Khartoum,\u201d said 55-year-old Khartoum resident Mohamed Ibrahim.
\n\u201cWe want to be safe again and live without fear or hunger,\u201d he said.
\nLate on Thursday the RSF said it had seized a key base from the army in North Darfur, a region in the west of the country.
\nThe conflict has led to what the UN calls the world\u2019s largest humanitarian crisis, spreading famine in several locations and disease across the country of 50 million people.
\nBoth sides have been accused of war crimes, while the RSF has also been charged with genocide. Both sides deny the charges.
\nGunfire in Khartoum
\nIntermittent gunfire was heard in Khartoum on Friday and bloody fighting was expected as the army seeks to corner the RSF, which still occupies swathes of the territory to the south of the palace.
\n\u201cWe are moving forward along all fighting axes until victory is complete by cleansing every inch of our country from the filth of this militia and its collaborators,\u201d the army statement said.
\nRSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, had instructed troops earlier this week to maintain control at the palace.
\nAlthough the RSF still has positions in Khartoum, its foothold there is more tenuous than at any point since the conflict began and the trajectory suggests the RSF will be pushed out completely, said Ahmed Soliman, senior research fellow at Chatham House.
\nThe army is likely to continue the war in the west, he added, leaving Sudan facing \u201ca contested, partitioned reality\u201d.
\nThe war erupted two years ago as the country was planning a transition to democratic rule.
\nThe army and RSF had joined forces after ousting Omar al-Bashir from power in 2019 and later to oust civilian leadership.
\nBut they had long been at odds, as Bashir developed Hemedti and the RSF, which has its roots in Darfur\u2019s janjaweed militias, as a counterweight to the army, led by career officer Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sudanese army had long been on the back foot but has recently been making gains and has retaken territory from the RSF Khartoum The Sudanese army seized full control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, it said in a statement, in what would be a major gain in a two-year-old conflict with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-468426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n