Following the military’s takeover of the Republican Palace from a paramilitary organisation, a senior Sudanese army officer welcomed soldiers there on Tuesday.
General Yasser Al-Atta, the assistant commander-in-chief of the armed forces, visited the palace to inspect the troops and give them an update on the ongoing conflict.
In a significant symbolic win for the Sudanese military in its almost two-year conflict with the Rapid Support Forces, the military retook the Republican Palace, the government’s prewar seat, on Friday.
The military of Sudan strengthened its hold on the capital this week, seizing other important government structures.
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.
