The Sudanese army targeted parts of the capital Khartoum on Thursday in a bid to push out Rapid-Support Forces (RSF), following their declaration of victory over the rebel group on Wednesday.

The shelling targeted RSF fighters who were redeployed to the city of Omdurman after they had pulled out of Khartoum on Wednesday via a Nile dam, while Reuters cited witnesses saying that some RSF fighters headed towards Darfur.

The Sudanese army holds control over most of Omdurman, which is home to two major military bases, and appears focused on expelling the remaining RSF forces to fully secure control of Khartoum's urban area through shelling the southern part of Omdurman.

The RSF still controls a small area around the dam at Jebel Aulia south of Khartoum to secure a retreat route for stragglers, while residents of a village in North Kordofan state reported seeing an RSF convoy with dozens of vehicles passing through on its way west.

The Rapid-Support Forces stated that it had never been defeated in battle, claiming instead that its forces had "strategically repositioned and expanded across the battlefronts to secure their military objectives," without specifying Khartoum or other locations.

Sudanese army declares victory

Sudan's army leader, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, arrived at the presidential palace in Khartoum on March 26, declaring the capital "free" from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following nearly two years of conflict.

"Khartoum is free, it's done," Burhan declared in a state television broadcast, ending a multi-day battle by his forces to retake downtown Khartoum's public institutions from paramilitary control.

Sudan's army announced Friday it had regained control of the presidential palace in Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces following intense fighting. On social media, soldiers shared videos appearing inside the presidential palace, exchanging congratulations. 

Military spokesperson Nabil Abdallah told AFP that the troops had reclaimed and "fully secured" Khartoum airport, where RSF forces had been stationed for nearly two years.

After seizing the presidential palace in a crucial battlefield victory on Friday, the army pushed into central Khartoum, eliminating paramilitary groups, while an army source, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP that "the remnants of the RSF militia are fleeing" over the White Nile.