Sudanese Army Recaptures Khartoum’s Republican Palace After 2 Years of RSF Occupation

Dawn broke over Khartoum with the crackle of gunfire and distant explosions. By sunrise, a scene unimaginable just months ago unfolded at Sudan’s iconic Republican Palace: soldiers from the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) streaming through its bullet-pocked entrance, jubilantly raising the national flag over a complex that has symbolized power in the war-torn nation for two centuries.

“We’re inside! We’re in the Republican Palace!” shouted an officer in footage that spread rapidly across social media early Friday morning, as reported by The New York Times. Around him, troops knelt in prayer while others fired celebratory shots into the air, their voices echoing through the partly ruined structure that appears on Sudanese banknotes and once housed British colonial rulers.

The recapture marks a pivotal moment in Sudan’s devastating civil war, which has raged since April 2023 between the SAF under General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. For nearly two years, the RSF controlled much of the capital after seizing it in the conflict’s opening days.

“Today the flag is raised, the palace is back, and the journey continues until victory is complete,” declared Information Minister Khalid Ali al-Aiser on social media, according to The New York Times, confirming what military footage already showed: the army has reclaimed this potent symbol of Sudanese sovereignty.

The Republican Palace—known locally as al-Qaṣr al-Jumhūriy—is more than just a seat of power. Originally built in the 1830s under Ottoman-Egyptian rule as the Hakimadaria Palace, it was later rebuilt by the British and renamed the Governor-General’s Palace. It was here that General Charles Gordon was killed in 1885 during the Mahdist Revolution. In 1956, Sudanese leaders raised the flag of independence over this same compound, ushering in a new era.

The modern palace complex includes the older colonial structure and a new presidential building completed in 2015 with Chinese funding. Both sit on the southern bank of the Blue Nile and have been scarred by conflict since the war began. In May 2023, the RSF claimed the old palace had been destroyed by an airstrike—an assertion disputed by satellite imagery and local witnesses who instead confirmed fire damage to the new palace.

The SAF’s advance has been months in the making. Since launching a major counteroffensive in September 2024, the army has slowly pushed the RSF from eastern and northern Khartoum, capturing key bridges and ministry buildings. Intelligence reports indicated RSF fighters attempted to flee the palace complex on Thursday, prompting the SAF to launch a decisive ambush.

“Our forces completely destroyed the enemy’s fighters and equipment, and seized large quantities of equipment and weapons,” military spokesperson Nabil Abdallah said in a broadcast on state television, as reported by BBC News. “We will continue to progress on all fronts until victory is complete and every inch of our country is purged of the militia and its supporters.”

In one of Friday’s videos, soldiers could be seen crunching broken tiles beneath their boots as they moved through the palace ruins, chanting “God is the greatest!” The date, the 21st day of Ramadan, was cited by officers in the footage as symbolic of divine victory.

The palace’s fall is both strategic and deeply symbolic. It signals that the SAF has regained control of central Khartoum, home to ministries, banks, and national institutions. While the RSF has yet to formally acknowledge the loss, analysts say their expulsion from the capital marks a dramatic reversal in fortune.

Still, the conflict is far from over. The RSF maintains control of much of western Sudan, including parts of Darfur, where some of the war’s worst atrocities have unfolded. International powers remain entangled, with reports of the United Arab Emirates backing the RSF and Wagner mercenaries from Russia offering support.

Sudan’s war began in April 2023 after tensions exploded between Burhan and Dagalo, who had jointly seized power in a 2021 military coup. The ensuing civil war has displaced millions, killed at least 28,000 people by conservative estimates, and created what the UN describes as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis. Some families have resorted to eating grass to survive.

In parts of Khartoum, the destruction is total. Entire districts have been reduced to ash and rubble. Reporters on the ground described deserted neighborhoods, scorched apartment blocks, torched vehicles, and banks blown open. On Thursday night, RSF rockets struck Omdurman—an army-held city across the Nile—killing eight civilians gathered to break their Ramadan fast.

Yet amid the despair, the SAF’s allies—including Islamists, Darfur militias, and former anti-Bashir revolutionaries—celebrated Friday’s advance. “God is the greatest. We captured the Republican Palace,” Misbah Abu Zeid, leader of the Bara Ibn Malik Battalion, wrote on social media, as reported by The New York Times.

Whether the SAF can hold Khartoum and translate battlefield victories into political progress remains to be seen. For now, the flag flies once again over a palace that has witnessed empire, rebellion, independence, and decades of authoritarianism. The next chapter—still unwritten—will determine whether peace can finally return to Sudan’s battered heart.