Cairo: Sudan’s military said on Friday it retook the Republican Palace in Khartoum, the last heavily guarded bastion of rival paramilitary forces in the capital, after nearly two years of fighting.
The seizure of the Republican Palace, surrounded by government ministries, represents a major symbolic victory for Sudan’s military against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
However, it likely doesn’t mean the end of the war as the RSF holds territory in Sudan’s western Darfur region and elsewhere.
Social media videos showed its soldiers inside giving the date as the 21st day of Ramadan, the holy Muslim fasting month, which corresponds to Friday. A Sudanese military officer wearing a captain’s epaulettes made the announcement in the video, and confirmed the troops were inside the compound.
The palace appeared to be partly in ruins, with soldiers’ steps crunching broken tiles underneath their boots. Soldiers carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers chanted: “God is the greatest!”
Khaled al-Aiser, Sudan’s information minister, said the military had retaken the palace in a post on the social platform X.
“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back and the journey continues until victory is complete,” he wrote.
Palace’s fall a symbolic and strategic moment
The fall of the Republican Palace, a compound along the Nile River that was the seat of government before the war erupted and is immortalised on Sudanese banknotes and postage stamps, marks another battlefield gain for Sudan’s military.
Sudan’s military, under Gen. Burhan, has expelled the RSF from Khartoum, though fighting continues. The RSF still holds key areas, while the conflict has caused famine and mass displacement. Both sides face human rights abuse allegations, including
genocide claims.