Sudan Army Reclaims Presidential Palace From RSF After Fierce Clashes

Sudan’s army has regained control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum, marking a major victory over the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which had held significant territory since the conflict erupted in April 2023.

The ongoing battle between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF has resulted in one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises, with over 28,000 casualties and 11 million people displaced, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Initiative.

While the RSF had dominated Khartoum since the war’s onset, the government announced on Friday that its troops had seized the Presidential Palace and were continuing efforts to reclaim the capital.

“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back, and the journey continues until victory is complete,” Sudanese Information Minister Khalid Al-Aiser wrote on X.

Despite this strategic gain, much of Khartoum remains under RSF control, with the militia maintaining dominance over the western, southern, and central regions, including Darfur, where ethnically driven violence persists.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) hold the eastern and northern regions of the country.

Regaining full control of Khartoum would be a symbolic triumph for the SAF, especially as the RSF had begun taking steps toward establishing a parallel government. However, the ongoing fight for the capital has inflicted a severe toll on civilians trapped in the conflict.

“Dozens of civilians, including local humanitarian volunteers, have been killed by artillery shelling and aerial bombardment by the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces in eastern Khartoum and north Omdurman since 12 March,” a spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, Seif Magango, said on Thursday.

Both the SAF and RSF have faced accusations of war crimes throughout the conflict. In January, the United States formally accused the RSF of committing genocide—the second such atrocity in Sudan in just two decades.

A recent UNICEF report also implicated the SAF in severe human rights violations, including sexual violence against young children, some as young as one year old.