Sudan’s army has regained control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum, marking a major success against a militia that has held significant parts of the country during the ongoing conflict.
Since April 2023, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in a fierce battle for territory. The fighting has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with more than 28,000 deaths and 11 million people displaced, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data initiative.
The RSF had maintained a stronghold over Khartoum, including the Presidential Palace, since the war began. However, on Friday, the government announced that SAF troops had taken back the palace and planned to push further to reclaim the capital.
“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back, and the journey continues until victory is complete,” information minister Khalid Al-Aiser wrote on X.
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While SAF’s recapture of the palace is a significant step, the RSF still controls large areas of Khartoum and holds key regions in the west, south, and center of Sudan, including Darfur, where ethnically driven violence remains a serious concern. Meanwhile, SAF controls the northern and eastern parts of the country.
Reclaiming Khartoum would be a symbolic win for the SAF, particularly as the RSF had started forming a parallel government. However, the battle for control comes with heavy consequences for civilians who often find themselves in the middle of 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,” Seif Magango, a spokesperson for the United Nations Human Rights Office, said Thursday as clashes in the capital escalated.
Both sides have faced allegations of war crimes. In January, the United States accused the RSF of committing genocide, the second such charge in Sudan in two decades.
A recent UNICEF report also implicated SAF in grave human rights violations, including sexual violence against young children, some as young as one.
“Credible reports indicate that the RSF and allied militia have raided homes in eastern Khartoum, carrying out summary killings and arbitrary detentions, and looted food and medical supplies from community kitchens and medical clinics,” Magango added. “SAF and affiliated fighters are also reported to have engaged in looting and other criminal activities in areas they control in Khartoum North (Bahri) and East Nile. Widespread arbitrary arrests are ongoing in East Nile.”
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