The Sudanese army will liven up the Presidential Palace in Khartoum and hit the swift supporters with major iconic victory.
Sudanese troops and their supporters are blessings across the country after the troops recapture the presidential palace in Khartoum’s capital.
Friday’s victory is perhaps the Army’s most iconic since launching a critical counterattack against the Paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in September last year.
The RSF continues to control pockets in southern Khartoum, but has lost most of its capital since Sudan erupted into the civil war in April 2023.
The development comes days after RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemetti” Dagallo released a video urging him not to give up on the palace.
Civilians have generally welcomed the Army as liberators despite reports of several militias deployed in the Army that committed human rights abuses after the withdrawal of the RSF.
RSF is committed to countless atrocities in Sudan, including Khartoum.
A recent report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) found that RSF fighters have detained at least 10,000 people on Khartoum since the start of the war until June last year.
“In areas controlled by the RSF, they kill people, rape women, destroy all humanity. Every time the army arrives, people feel safer, so they become happy. Even children are full of joy.
Another scenario other than Khartoum
Analysts say the Army’s capture of the Presidential Palace creates fear that Sudan is increasingly approaching a de facto division.
The RSF already supports parallel governments and controls four of the five regions of Darfur’s vast region. This is almost the size of France.
RSF recently acquired Almalija, a strategic desert city in North Darfur. This is the last area where the Army and its aligned armed groups still have some control.
Despite the profits, the RSF is struggling to capture Elfasher, the capital of North Darfur, where the Army still has its garrisons.
Sharas Srinivasan, a Sudanese expert and professor at Cambridge University, tells Al Jazeera that Sudan appears to be heading towards a “Libyan scenario,” referring to the division of governance between two competing authorities alongside the web of armed groups and militias.
“Of course, I feel that the geographical divergence is getting stronger, with the exception of Elfasher. The RSF needs to lock Elfasher down to claim its de facto state, but that’s not at all certain,” he said.
Time of peace?
The Army has long refused to negotiate peace with the RSF, and has repeatedly stated plans to recapture the entire country.
The RSF also uses diplomacy as a cover to escalate Sudan’s military operations, analysts previously told Al Jazeera. Last January, Hemedti signed a “Declaration of Principles” with the superficial anti-war coalition known as Taqaddum.
Hemetti then visited several heads of state across Africa, and his army continued to plunder, kill and terrorize civilians in the main boatbasket, Gezilla province of Sudan.
Both sides have recently promised to continue the fight, raising fears that clashes will intensify in the western part of the country, particularly in the Kordofan and Darfur regions.
In Khartoum, combat can escalate as sophisticated weapons range is poured into the country. Shortly after the Army reclaimed the Presidential Palace, he said the drone had attacked and killed three journalists in the area.
The ongoing battle could spun Sudan’s vast regions deep into chaos. The conflict, by most measures, has already caused the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis.
Tens of thousands have died, thousands have disappeared, and millions have suffered catastrophic levels of food anxiety.
