Sudan: Army forces tighten grip on Khartoum as paramilitaries retreat

A top Sudanese army official greeted troops in the Republican Palace on Tuesday after the military gained control of the palace from a paramilitary group.

Assistant Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Gen. Yasser Al-Atta inspected forces at the palace and updated them on the current fighting.

On Friday, the military retook the Republican Palace, the prewar seat of the government, in a major symbolic victory for the Sudanese military in its nearly two years of war against the Rapid Support Forces.

This week, Sudan’s military consolidated its grip on the capital, retaking more key government buildings.

Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesperson for the Sudanese military, said troops expelled the RSF from the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service and Corinthia Hotel in central Khartoum.

The army also retook the headquarters of the Central Bank of Sudan and other government and educational buildings in the area, Abdullah said.

Sudan, a nation in northeastern Africa, has been unstable since a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime autocratic President Omar al-Bashir in 2019.

A short-lived transition to democracy was derailed when Sudanese army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who leads the RSF fighters, led a military coup in 2021.

The RSF and Sudan’s military began fighting each other in 2023.

Since the start of the year, Burhan’s forces, including Sudan’s military and allied militias, have advanced against the RSF.

They retook a key refinery north of Khartoum, pushed in on RSF positions around Khartoum itself.

The fighting has led to an increase in civilian casualties.