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Sudan's army has recaptured the presidential palace in central Khartoum, dealing a major blow to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces which responded with a deadly drone strike.
Sudan's army has recaptured the presidential palace in central Khartoum, dealing a major blow to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces which responded with a deadly drone strike.
A key symbol of Sudanese sovereignty, the palace has been a strategic RSF stronghold since April 2023, when the war erupted between the army and its ally-turned-rival.
While the palace recapture brings the army close to declaring victory in Khartoum, it has yet to expel the RSF from the capital.
An army source said three journalists were killed Friday when a suicide drone hit the palace.
On the south bank of the Blue Nile River, the Republican Palace sits at the edge of central Khartoum's government and business district, the site of fierce fighting for weeks and where some RSF forces have now fled.
"What remains of the RSF militias have fled into some buildings in Al-Mogran" around a kilometre west of the palace, a military source told AFP anonymously, being unauthorised to speak to the media.
Since January, when the army broke a nearly two-year RSF siege of its General Command headquarters, troops have countered RSF snipers in government and office buildings.
On Friday the army began an operation to "cleanse" the city centre, with military sources warning this could take hours or days.
Breaking: Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) recapture the Republican Palace and defeat the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) after intense direct combat.
But is the war over? No, it is not.
Still, this marks a significant symbolic victory for the SAF, as… pic.twitter.com/GuL4cIdnuS
Since last year the army has held Omdurman, Khartoum's twin city across the Nile, and this year reclaimed the Bahri district, also known as Khartoum North.
But artillery fire from RSF forces still stationed to the south and west has claimed at least 50 lives over the past week, volunteer rescuers said.
⚡️ Sudanese Army announces control over the Presidential Palace and ministries in central Khartoum after expelling the UAE-backed RSF militia. pic.twitter.com/K7PqVeg8HC
— Warfare Analysis (@warfareanalysis)Former army officer Ali Merghani said "the army liberating the palace means that the RSF's forces in the south and west must retreat if they want to preserve what remains of their forces".
The RSF had stationed its elite forces and stored ammunition in the palace, military sources said.
"Retaking the presidential palace paves the way for the return of government ministries, while defeating the RSF's elite forces in central Khartoum is a blow to the group's overall position," said a retired Sudanese general, adding that full military control of the capital was only "matter of time".
Another military expert said the RSF's defeat is imminent, "now that the army has destroyed its equipment, killed a number of their forces and seized control of one of its most important supply centres in Khartoum".
But even if the military seizes Khartoum, Africa's third largest country, with an estimated population of 50 million people, remains divided.
From its foothold in the east, the army has reclaimed much of central Sudan, pushing the paramilitaries further south and west.
The RSF currently controls parts of the south and nearly all of the western region of Darfur, although it has failed to consolidate its hold despite a nearly year-long siege of the last major city outside its control.
The army and allies known as the Joint Forces have repelled successive RSF attacks on North Darfur state capital El-Fasher.
On Thursday, Darfur governor and rebel leader Mini Minawi, whose fighters help lead the Joint Forces, reported a "fierce battle" in Al-Malha on the border with Libya.
Both the RSF and the Joint Forces have claimed control of the remote city some 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of El-Fasher.
The Libyan border has been a key RSF supply route which the Joint Forces have not yet severed, analysts say.
While precise RSF manpower remains unknown, it is heavily armed with vehicle-mounted twin- and quad-barrel machine guns, Kornet anti-tank missiles and drones.
Fast-moving pickups and technical vehicles grant the RSF high mobility in urban battles.
The army has supplemented its once-exhausted troops with both volunteers and battle-hardened fighters from allied militias suited for urban combat.
The army's warplanes also control the skies despite the RSF's drones.
But even as the army advances, the fighting is expected to continue.
RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Daglo vowed to resist the army assault on Khartoum, and his forces continue to launch artillery strikes on heavily populated army-controlled areas.
The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced more than 12 million and created what the International Rescue Committee calls "the biggest humanitarian crisis ever recorded".
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