Sudan’s army retakes presidential palace in Khartoum, strikes blow to RSF

Sudan’s army and its supporters are celebrating across the country after troops recaptured the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum.

Friday’s victory is perhaps the army’s most symbolic since launching a key counteroffensive against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in September last year.

The RSF continues to control pockets in southern Khartoum, but has lost most of the capital since Sudan erupted into a civil war in April 2023.

The development comes just days after RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti” Dagalo released a video urging his fighters not to give up the palace.

Civilians have generally welcomed the army as liberators despite some reports of army-aligned militias carrying out human rights abuses following RSF withdrawals.

The RSF has committed countless atrocities in Sudan, including in Khartoum.

A recent report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), found that RSF fighters had detained at least 10,000 people in Khartoum since the start of the war until June last year.

“In areas the RSF controls, they kill people, rape women and destroy all humanity. Whenever the army arrives, people become happy because they feel safer. Even the children are joyous,” said Yousef, a young Sudanese man.