Army recaptures presidential palace in Khartoum from RSF

The Sudanese army has recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum from the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, military leaders have said.

Video and photographs posted on social media and verified by the BBC show jubilant soldiers waving their guns, cheering, and kneeling to pray.

The army appears poised to regain control of the capital two years after it was kicked out by its paramilitary rivals, known as the RSF.

The paramilitary group has yet to comment.

Khartoum is where the country’s brutal civil war began nearly two years ago, and where some of its biggest battles were fought.

The RSF has held most of the capital as well as the west of Sudan since the start of the war.

Reclaiming Khartoum would be a huge victory for the Sudanese Armed Forces and a pivotal moment in the conflict. The army has also made gains in parts of central Sudan in recent weeks.

On Thursday, witnesses reported explosions from drone attacks and air strikes near the Republican Palace.

In a video recording on Saturday, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, vowed to defend the presidential palace and surrounding areas that are under the control of his paramilitary group.

He threatened further attacks in several northern cities.

Several peace efforts have collapsed as the rival forces vow to continue fighting to control the strategic areas.

The war has caused the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the UN, with both the RSF and the army accused of widespread human rights abuses.

Additional reporting by Wycliffe Muia