Sudanese army troops and allied militiamen were rapidly advancing in the capital on Wednesday, engaging the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in street combat in residential areas once home to hundreds of thousands of citizens before the war broke out 21 months ago.

Sudanese army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan visited its strategic headquarters in central Khartoum on Sunday in his first appearance there since government forces claimed to have broken a months-long siege by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Sudan's army chief visited on Sunday his headquarters in the capital Khartoum, two days after forces recaptured the building which had been encircled by paramilitary fighters since the war erupted in April 2023.

It is connected to a 1,610-km oil export pipeline in Bashayer Port on the Red Sea coast in eastern Sudan. The Oil Ministry estimated that the refinery's shutdown could cause Sudan a daily loss of about $5 million.

Sudan's army chief visited on Sunday his headquarters in the capital Khartoum, two days after forces recaptured the complex, which paramilitaries had encircled since the war erupted in April 2023.