Sudan’s army seizes control of central bank amid steady gains in Khartoum

As it continues to make advances in the capital, the Sudanese army claims to have taken control of the country’s central bank’s main headquarters from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

An army spokesman, Nabil Abdallah, claimed in a statement to the AFP news agency on Saturday that the soldiers had “eliminated hundreds of militia members who attempted to escape through pockets in central Khartoum.”

The bank’s takeover comes one day after the army’s significant military victory saw the military retake control of the presidential palace.

However, the RSF responded to the assault on Friday by launching a drone attack that resulted in the deaths of several army personnel and three journalists.

RSF fighters reportedly fled into al-Mogran, a west of the palace that houses banks and corporate headquarters, on Friday.

Paramilitary forces also set up snipers in high-rises across Omdurman, across the Nile River, and near the ministries in Khartoum, in the area.

The conflict between the government and the financial district, however, could give the army a significant advantage in the conflict by extending its influence there.

Hiba Morgan, a journalist from Khartoum, claimed that the army had been “making steady gains” recently.

There are still areas where the RSF are active, and these are specifically around the western part of the country, according to Morgan, who claims that they have been removing ground from the Rapid Support Forces in the northern and eastern regions of the capital.

The army is currently in charge of the eastern, northern, and southern regions of Sudan, and the RSF is in charge of the western and southwestern regions, she continued.

The military, led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been engaged in a conflict with Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, Burhan’s former deputy commander, ever since April 2023.