Sudan's military says it has reclaimed presidential palace from rebels

The Associated Press

· Posted: Mar 21, 2025 8:50 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Sudan's subject said Friday it retook the Republican Palace successful Khartoum, the past heavy guarded bastion of rival paramilitary forces successful the capital, aft astir 2 years of fighting. 

The seizure of the Republican Palace, surrounded by authorities ministries, represents a large symbolic triumph for Sudan's subject against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). However, it apt doesn't mean the extremity of the warfare arsenic the RSF holds territory successful Sudan's occidental Darfur portion and elsewhere. 

The warfare has killed much than 28,000 people, forced millions to fly their homes and near immoderate families eating writer successful a hopeless effort to past arsenic famine sweeps parts of the country. Other estimates suggest a acold higher decease toll. 

Social media videos showed its soldiers wrong giving the day arsenic the 21st time of Ramadan, the beatified Muslim fasting month, which corresponds to Friday. A Sudanese subject serviceman wearing a captain's epaulettes made the announcement successful the video and confirmed the troops were wrong the compound. 

The palace appeared to beryllium partially successful ruins, with soldiers' steps crunching breached tiles underneath their boots. Soldiers carrying battle rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers chanted: "God is the greatest!"

Khaled al-Aiser, Sudan's accusation minister, said the subject had retaken the palace successful a station connected the societal level X. 

"Today the emblem is raised, the palace is backmost and the travel continues until triumph is complete," helium wrote. 

The RSF aboriginal issued a connection claiming its forces "are inactive contiguous of the vicinity of the area, warring bravely." A drone onslaught connected the palace believed to person been launched by the RSF reportedly killed troops and journalists with Sudanese authorities television.

Humanitarian assistance hampered by months of fighting

The Republican Palace, a compound on the Nile River, had been the spot of powerfulness during the British colonization of Sudan. It besides saw immoderate of the archetypal autarkic Sudanese flags raised implicit the state successful 1956. 

Its autumn marks different battlefield summation for Sudan's military. It has made dependable advances successful caller months nether service main Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan. 

It means the rival RSF, nether Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, besides known arsenic Hemedti, person been mostly expelled from the capital, Khartoum, aft Sudan's warfare began successful April 2023. 

Sporadic gunfire could beryllium heard passim the superior Friday, though it wasn't wide if it progressive warring oregon was celebratory. 

Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesperson for the Sudanese military, described its troops arsenic holding the palace, surrounding ministry buildings and the Arab Market to the southbound of the palace. Khartoum International Airport, lone immoderate 2.5 kilometres southeast of the palace, has been held by the RSF since the commencement of the war. 

Suleiman Sandal, a person associated with the RSF, acknowledged the authorities took the palace and called it portion of "the ups and downs" of history. 

Late Thursday, the RSF claimed it seized power of the Sudanese metropolis of al-Maliha, a strategical godforsaken metropolis successful North Darfur adjacent the borders of Chad and Libya. Sudan's subject has acknowledged warring astir al-Maliha but has not said it mislaid the city. 

Al-Maliha is astir 200 kilometres northbound of the metropolis of El Fasher, which remains held by the Sudanese subject contempt near-daily strikes by the surrounding RSF. 

The caput of the UN children's bureau has said the struggle created the world's largest and astir devastating humanitarian crisis. UNICEF connected Friday separately decried the looting of nutrient assistance meant to spell to malnourished children astatine Al Bashir Hospital connected the outskirts of Khartoum. 

"Commercial supplies and humanitarian assistance person been blocked for much than 3 months owed to ongoing struggle on cardinal routes," UNICEF warned. "The effect is simply a terrible shortage of food, medicine and different essentials, with thousands of civilians trapped successful progressive fighting." 

Turmoil since autocrat Bashir's ouster

The Sudanese subject has agelong targeted the palace and its grounds, shelling and firing connected the compound. Sudan has faced years of chaos and has been unstable since a fashionable uprising forced the removal of longtime autocratic president Omar al-Bashir successful 2019. 

Al-Bashir faces charges astatine the International Criminal Court implicit carrying retired a genocidal run successful the aboriginal 2000s successful the occidental Darfur portion with the Janjaweed, the precursor to the RSF. Rights groups and the UN impeach the RSF and allied Arab militias of again attacking taste African groups successful this war. 

A short-lived modulation to ideology aft Bashir's ouster was derailed erstwhile Burhan and Dagalo led a subject coup successful 2021. The RSF and Sudan's subject past began warring each different successful 2023.

Since the warfare began, some the Sudanese subject and the RSF person faced allegations of quality rights abuses.

Before U.S. President Joe Biden near office, the State Department declared the RSF are committing genocide. The subject and the RSF person denied committing abuses.