Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan vowed on Saturday evening that his forces would continue fighting until they achieve victory over the paramilitary forces, stating that the war would only end when the group lays down its arms.

This announcement comes after the army, which has been locked in a devastating conflict with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for nearly two years, claimed on Thursday to have regained full control of Khartoum.

In his first televised address since Thursday, General Burhan declared that the war could only end “if this militia surrenders its weapons.”

He also ruled out any negotiations with the RSF, asserting that victory would only be complete when “the last rebel is eliminated.”

On Wednesday evening, Burhan had declared Khartoum “liberated” from the presidential palace, which he reached following an offensive by his troops to retake the capital from RSF control.

The next day, the army’s spokesperson announced that it had managed “to clear (…) the last pockets of resistance from the terrorist militia” in Khartoum.

In response, the RSF said they would continue to “defend the homeland’s soil” and warned that there would be “no retreat and no surrender.”

Also on Wednesday, just hours after Burhan arrived at the presidential palace, the RSF announced a “military alliance” with a rebel group that controls key areas near the borders with South Sudan and Ethiopia.

On Saturday, the RSF claimed to have seized control of a military base located about 140 kilometers southwest of Damazin, the capital of Blue Nile State (south), near where they had carried out a drone strike on Thursday, according to eyewitnesses.

The war, which broke out on April 15, 2023, has, according to the UN, killed tens of thousands of people, displaced more than 12 million, and triggered a major humanitarian crisis.

It has effectively split Sudan—the third-largest country in Africa—in two: the army controls the north and east, while the RSF dominates parts of the south and nearly all of the vast Darfur region in the west, bordering Chad.

Both the RSF and the army have been accused of committing atrocities, and their leaders are under U.S. sanctions. In January 2025, Washington formally accused the RSF of committing “genocide.”

During the fragile political transition that followed the ousting of President Omar al-Bashir in 2019, Generals Burhan and Dagalo had formed a temporary alliance to expel civilian leaders from the government. However, a fierce power struggle between them eventually escalated into open warfare.