Sudan army advances in central Khartoum after retaking palace
Kyiv • UNN
The Sudanese military has taken control of a number of important facilities in Khartoum, including the central bank and intelligence headquarters. This comes after a promise to completely liberate the country.
In Sudan, the military said on Saturday that it had seized several key buildings in central Khartoum from paramilitary formations after army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed a "complete liberation" after the presidential palace was seized, UNN writes, citing AFP.
Details
Army spokesman Nabil Abdullah said the military was "continuing to put pressure" on the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) throughout the city center, providing a list of recaptured buildings, including the central bank, state intelligence headquarters and the National Museum of Sudan.
Sudan's national institutions in the city center were seized and looted by paramilitary groups in the first weeks after the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023.
On Friday, the army and allied armed groups recaptured the presidential palace from the RSF, who responded with a drone strike that killed three journalists and several soldiers.
Paramilitary formations used the palace to house their elite forces and store ammunition, according to military sources.
The battle for Khartoum's government and financial district could strengthen the military's position in the capital. This would give a significant advantage in the country's devastating two-year war, but is unlikely to end it, the publication writes.
With Friday's offensive, the army occupied the entire left bank of the Blue Nile. It also secured the main route across the White Nile from the city center to Khartoum's sister city of Omdurman.
Since April 2023, the army, led by army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been fighting the RSF, led by his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.
Army chief Burhan said his forces were "moving in confident steps towards the complete liberation of Sudan" in a video distributed by the army on Saturday.
"The battle is not over, we will continue," he said to cheering and ululation in Al-Kamlin, a city about 100 kilometers southwest of Khartoum, the day before.
The RSF did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on Saturday. But they also vowed on Friday that the battle for the palace was "not over."
Army sources said paramilitary formations had retreated to buildings in Al-Mogran, an area west of the palace that houses banks and corporate headquarters.
Paramilitary formations have deployed snipers in high-rise buildings in the area, which overlook both Omdurman and ministries in central Khartoum.
"Our forces in central Khartoum continue to put pressure on Daglo's thugs... (who) are trying to escape from our forces," said army spokesman Nabil Abdalla.
He said the army had "destroyed hundreds of militiamen trying to escape through enclaves in central Khartoum."
Addition
Analysts have warned that even if the army continues to recapture all of Greater Khartoum, it will not end the brutal war in Sudan, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 12 million.
Africa's third-largest country remains effectively divided in two: the army controls the east and north, while the RSF controls almost the entire western region of Darfur and parts of the south.
