The leader of Sudan's military has reportedly declared the country's capital Khartoum free of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. But there is still no end in sight to the conflict.



Multiple international media say the chief of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, said on Wednesday that "Khartoum is free."



Most of Khartoum had been under RSF control since fighting broke out between the two sides in April 2023. But the SAF reclaimed the presidential palace and other key institutions in central Khartoum last week. It also said on Wednesday that it had retaken the last RSF stronghold in Khartoum.



But there is no prospect for the fighting to end anytime soon, with the RSF still holding much of Sudan's western Darfur region.



A non-governmental organization, which collates data on conflict zones around the world, says it had recorded more than 28,700 deaths in the conflict by the end of November 2024. The United Nations says that as of March 24, more than 12 million people had been forcibly displaced by the fighting.



UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said on Wednesday that "civilians continue to be killed indiscriminately, maimed and mistreated on a near daily basis." He urged the SAF and the RSF "to take all measures, as required by law, to avoid harming civilians and attacking civilian objects."