Sudanese Army Recaptures Presidential Palace 

The Sudanese army has regained control of the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum, marking a significant victory in its ongoing battle against the paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the country’s devastating civil war.

The recapture follows days of intense fighting between the two factions, with the army pushing back RSF fighters from the strategic compound. Videos circulating on social media show soldiers inside the heavily damaged building, armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

In one video, an officer wearing a captain’s epaulets announced the takeover, confirming that government troops were now inside the palace. The development is a major boost for the army in its struggle against the powerful paramilitary group, which has been engaged in fierce clashes for control of the country.

“We’re inside!” shouted an unidentified officer as cheering soldiers swarmed around him in one video posted Friday morning. “We’re in the Republican Palace!”

In a post on X, Khaled al-Aiser, Sudan’s information minister, announced the takeover. “Today the flag is raised, the palace is back and the journey continues until victory is complete,” he wrote.

The victory also provided a major boost to the military’s efforts to fully expel the paramilitaries from Khartoum, six months into a large-scale counteroffensive that has shifted the war’s momentum in favor of the army in Eastern Sudan.

Days before the recapture, the R.S.F. leader, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan, vowed to defend their occupancy of the palace. “Do not think that we will retreat from the palace,” he said last week in a video address from an undisclosed location

The army’s capture of the palace, which overlooks the Nile and previously served as the seat of government before the war, marks the culmination of months of steady advances in the Khartoum area. Earlier this week, the army announced that its forces had merged from the north and south, effectively surrounding the RSF.

RSF fighters, who seized much of the capital in the early stages of the conflict—forcing the army-aligned government to relocate to Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast—have now been largely expelled from the city.

However, this military victory does not signal an imminent end to the war. The RSF has solidified its control over western Darfur, further entrenching battle lines and pushing the country toward a de facto partition. In the areas it controls, the RSF is attempting to establish a parallel government, though it is unlikely to receive broad international recognition.

Late Thursday, the RSF claimed to have seized the strategic desert city of al-Maliha in North Darfur, near the borders of Chad and Libya. While Sudan’s army has acknowledged ongoing battles in the area, it has not confirmed the loss of the city. Al-Maliha lies roughly 125 miles (200 km) north of El Fasher, which remains under military control despite relentless RSF attacks.

The head of the UN Children’s agency has described the conflict in Sudan as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. The war has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and driven some to the brink of starvation, with reports of families resorting to eating grass as famine spreads.

Sudan, located in Northeastern Africa, has been in turmoil since a 2019 uprising led to the ousting of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir.  A brief transition to democracy was cut short in 2021 when Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo staged a military coup. By 2023, the Sudanese military and the RSF were engaged in open conflict.

Both sides have been accused of human rights violations since the war began. Before leaving office, the Biden administration officially declared that the RSF was committing genocide against the Sudanese people. However, both the army and the RSF have denied any wrongdoing.