Sudan army regains control of national TV and radio headquarters from RSF

Sudan’s army has taken control of the country’s national radio and television headquarters from the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the army said in a statement.

The military posted videos online showing its soldiers inside the headquarters on Tuesday in Omdurman, a city across the Nile from Khartoum that forms part of Sudan’s wider capital, where the army has claimed recent gains after a string of military losses.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF.

The conflict broke out in mid-April 2023 amid tensions over a plan for transition to civilian rule.

In 2021, the warring factions staged a coup that derailed a previous transition following the 2019 overthrow of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan, reporting from Khartoum, said the military’s takeover of the media headquarters follows weeks of gains against the RSF.

“After overnight battles between the RSF and the Sudanese army, and after gains from the army here in the city of Omdurman, the army was able to retake control of the station,” said Morgan.

“It shows that the army over the past few weeks has been making steady gains from the RSF, regaining territory and recapturing grounds back from the RSF in the city of Omdurman and in some other parts of the capital as well.”

The war in Sudan has devastated the capital, sparked waves of ethnically driven killings in the western region of Darfur and created the world’s biggest displacement crisis.

The United Nations has called for a ceasefire over the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, but the army has rejected a pause in hostilities with the RSF unless the paramilitary group vacates civilian facilities in the capital of Khartoum and elsewhere.

“So fighting continues here in the capital Khartoum,” Morgan said. “We were able to see, in the past few hours, several plumes of smoke rising in various parts of the capital – and we were able to hear artillery shelling.”