After 2 Long Years, Sudan's Presidential Palace Is Retaken

Sudan's army recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum early Friday, marking the first time it's been in the army's hands since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces seized control of it nearly two years ago, reports NPR. The AP calls the palace "the last heavily guarded bastion of rival paramilitary forces in the capital," and its seizure prompted the country's information minister to write this on X: "Today the flag is raised, the palace is back and the journey continues until victory is complete." What you need to know about the development and its implications for the war, which began in April 2023:

• Progress, but not an end: The retaking of the Republican Palace is being called a symbolic victory and one that puts the capital almost entirely in the army's hands—though the BBC notes RSF fighters remain in Khartoum. While the New York Times reports it "signal[s] a potential turning point," the development is unlikely to bring the war to a close; the RSF still controls territory in Sudan's western Darfur region and beyond. Late Thursday the RSF claimed it had taken the key desert city of al-Maliha in North Darfur.

• The state of the building: The Times uses the word "devastated" to describe the palace, which is located along the Nile River. The AP characterizes it as "partly in ruins," with breaking tile heard beneath soldiers' feet.
• Background: Things have been tumultuous in Sudan since a popular uprising forced out authoritarian leader President Omar al-Bashir in 2019. A "short-lived transition to democracy" was stymied when army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who now commands the RSF, led a 2021 military coup; two years later, the two groups started to fight each other. But "what started as a power feud between the two generals has exploded into a much wider conflict fueled by a bewildering array of foreign powers," per the Times.
• In recent months: The Times reports the RSF was largely dominant for the war's initial 18 months, but the tide has turned since the military launched a major counteroffensive in September. NPR reports that battle for control has spurred what many consider the world's worst humanitarian crisis. More than 12 million people have been displaced, and the death toll could be as high as 150,000.

(More Sudan stories.)