Sudan army retakes Khartoum palace, RSF fights back

SUDAN'S army announces its fighters have entered the presidential palace in the centre of Khartoum. In recent weeks the army has stepped up its campaign against the rival Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the city, which it lost at the start of the war in 2023. Reclaiming Khartoum would be a huge victory for the army and a pivotal moment in the conflict. But the RSF says it is fighting back and claims to have launched an attack on the palace. The RSF also still controls large parts of the country – including much of the west. The two-year civil war has caused the world's largest humanitarian crisis, according to the UN.

Source: BBC News Live Reporting Summary dated Fri 21 Mar 2025 GMT
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t
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BBC Verify has checked video and images appearing on social media showing Sudanese army forces around the presidential palace in Khartoum: We’ve matched the features of the buildings and grounds to images available on Google and visible on satellite imagery and checked that these videos have not appeared before. They show soldiers celebrating and announcing today’s date. Celebratory gunfire can also be heard. The footage also reveals extensive damage to the outside of the palace, as well as destruction inside one of the buildings.

Source: BBC Verify by Peter Mwai published Fri 21 Mar 2025 10:43 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t

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In pictures: Sudanese army celebrates

Many posts on social media are showing jubilant soldiers waving their guns in the air, cheering and kneeling to pray at the entrance to the presidential palace. Here are some stills from footage that's been recorded:

Source: BBC News Live Reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 09:13 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3Aada8b5df-4c08-4fe3-9341-0ff9c927ef21#post

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Sudanese soldiers celebrate victory with selfies

More images have been coming through from earlier today of troops celebrating at the presidential palace. The soldiers have been sharing them on social media:

Source: BBC News Live reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 12:43 GMT UK

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3A8aa2af5f-0b61-43f1-a282-b23dc6834056#post

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This is not the end of the war

The taking of the presidential palace and - if it happens - the recapture of the entire capital by the army would be a significant moment, but it is not the end of the two-year conflict. The RSF paramilitary force still controls large parts of the country, including much of the western Darfur region which has seen some of the deadliest violence over the past two years.

Source: BBC News Live reporting published Fri 21 Mar 2025 09:18 GMT

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c5y0w7pjnp2t?post=asset%3A8c407307-14ca-4ed5-a201-46a7d97c8c37#post

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Sudan: Khartoum is still in total blackout, desperate need for humanitarian aid, basic essentials, electricity

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Here is a message I received from a reader in Khartoum, Sudan last Sunday (Mar 10). Sadly, in short it says, Khartoum is still in total blackout, some neighbourhoods have had no electricity and water for over ten months, there is a desperate need for humanitarian aid.

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"I apologise for the delayed response due to the ongoing circumstances here in Khartoum. I’m in the capital Khartoum itself, which comprises tri-city Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri, the situation is challenging. 

Specifically, in Khartoum where the presidential palace and political sites are located, there are significant issues with connectivity, fuel, and basic necessities. 

The struggle for these essentials is real; for civilians of course, and while I won't claim they are readily available for civilians, some neighbourhoods have been without electricity and water for over 10 months. People have had to relocate from these areas to ones with better conditions.

To bridge the communication gap, people are resorting to satellite internet services, paying around three thousand Sudanese pounds per hour(~3 $) in some markets 

As for fuel, the current situation forces people to obtain it from the black market at considerably high prices when needed. and this situation since early days of war began in last April.

In certain areas, electricity has been absent for over 10 months, while in other regions, voluntary teams are working tirelessly by the hour to address neighborhood issues. These efforts extend to the east and south of Khartoum, as well as areas in Sharjah Nile, and Bahri. 

While some neighborhoods currently have electricity, others have been without it for an extended period. The struggle for safe and accessible water is equally challenging and in desperate need.

Concerning food, individuals are relying on their relatives outside Sudan or in relatively safe areas. Money is sent through bank accounts, managed with satellite internet, as Khartoum, along with several states, is currently in total blackout. In response, some neighborhoods are providing free meals to thousands of families in Khartoum. The desperate need for humanitarian aid is prevalent in these challenging circumstances."

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Related

Sudan Watch - March 08, 2024

UNSC adopts Resolution 2724 (2024) calling for cessation of hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan

THE UN Security Council on Friday (Mar 8) adopted a key resolution on Sudan, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in the war torn country during the month of Ramadan, which begins on Sunday. There were 14 votes in favour, 0 against, one abstention (Russia).

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/03/unsc-adopts-resolution-2724-2024.html

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Sudan Watch - March 11, 2024

VIDEO news report from Khartoum, Sudan on the first day of Ramadan shows no cessation of hostilities

Mr AlMigdad Hassan, correspondent for AlArabiya News Channel has filed his video report direct from Khartoum, Sudan to his X account on the first day of Ramadan, March 11th. Sadly, the footage in his report copied below shows that the cessation of hostilities by the belligerents hasn't happened.

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2024/03/sudan-video-news-report-from-khartoum.html

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Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike?

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: This news just in but I can't verify it. It's behind a paywall at The Times online so I subscribed in order to read the report. After doing so, I still can't access the full report. Maybe it's propaganda that somehow found its way into the website. Here's what I saw.

Report from The Times

By Fred Harter, Port Sudan

Dated Tuesday 09 May 2023

Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

The presidential palace at the centre of fierce fighting between Sudan's warring military leaders has been destroyed in an airstrike, according to the country's paramilitary unit. The Rapid...

Read more here: Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

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UPDATE 30 mins later: Here below is the full report including 2 photos currently on website of The Times. Note, there are no photos of the allegedly destroyed palace. One of the car photos appeared online earlier this week. 

Also, a Reuters report just in says "an army source denied the claim"- see the report by Reuters here:

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/world/sudan-crisis-air-strikes-hit-khartoum-absence-of-police-prompts-looting-robbery/ar-AA1aYrDJ

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Sudan presidential palace blown up in military strike

Fred Harter, Port Sudan | Jane Flanagan

Tuesday May 09 2023, 9.30pm, The Times

The presidential palace at the centre of fierce fighting between Sudan’s warring military leaders has been destroyed in an airstrike, according to the country’s paramilitary unit.

The Rapid Support Forces have held the compound since April 15, when tensions between the country’s two most powerful figures exploded into warfare and turned the capital into a battleground.

In a statement last night the RSF said the colonial-era building — where the famed British Army officer Gordon of Khartoum was killed during the colonial era — had been devastated by missiles launched by air force fighter jets. They pledged “an appropriate response”.

Residents living near the sprawling complex, featured on stamps and bank notes, have been caught up in the clashes between forces loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de-facto leader since a coup in 2019, and the RSF’s warlord leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.

The palace attack is expected to stall talks between their envoys, who are meeting in neighbouring Saudi Arabia to discuss a truce to allow humanitarian organisations to reach those in need.

Exact figures have been impossible to determine, but hundreds of people are believed to have been killed and thousands wounded since fighting broke out, with aid supplies disrupted and 115,000 refugees fleeing into neighbouring states.

Elradi Hamdan, 44, an architectural engineer from Edinburgh, told The Times that Foreign Office officials informed him he could only board an RAF plane in Port Sudan if he left behind his pregnant wife and five children, all of whom are Sudanese. “They said, ‘If you want to come alone there is no problem, but you cannot take anybody else, not even your children’,” Hamdan said. “They just took people with the British passport.”

British government flights out of the country for UK passport holders ended last week. Saudi Arabia and other countries, including the United States, are still evacuating people from Port Sudan’s dockside.

Hamdan’s wife is recovering from breast cancer and his children are traumatised after being caught up in the fighting in Khartoum. As Hamdan spoke to The Times, his 10-year-old son could be heard crying out in the background. “He’s talking about the war in his sleep,” Hamdan said. “He heard a lot of gunshots and saw a lot of things a kid his age shouldn’t see.”

The family are camping in a half-built call centre owned by a friend. Before arriving in Port Sudan, they travelled twice to the Wadi Seidna airstrip, another site where the RAF had been staging evacuation flights.

On the second trip, Hamdam said he watched “five or six flights come and go” as officials refused to take his family. He returned to his home to find it had been looted.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “As a British citizen, I can go anywhere if there is a ticket. But I cannot leave my wife and children behind.”

The presidential palace in Khartoum has been at the centre of the fight

RAPID SUPPORT FORCES/ESN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

A destroyed car near the presidential palace. People living near the compound have been caught up in fierce clashes between the warring factions 

GETTY IMAGES

View original: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sudan-presidential-palace-blown-up-in-military-strike-f3c23mgjq

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