DUBAI, March 20 (Reuters) – Sudan’s state TV said on Thursday that the army is close to taking control of the Presidential Palace in Khartoum from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, marking a significant shift in the two-year-old conflict that threatens to fracture the country.

Late on Wednesday, heavy clashes erupted near the palace, with explosions heard and airstrikes by the army targeting central Khartoum, witnesses and military sources told Reuters.

After nearly two years of war, the RSF controls most of the west of Sudan and parts of the capital Khartoum, but has been losing ground in central Sudan to the army.

The two military factions staged a coup in 2021, derailing a transition to civilian rule, and warfare broke out in April 2023 after plans for a new transition triggered violent conflict.

The war has led to what the U.N. calls the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with both the RSF and the army accused of widespread human rights abuses.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Jana Choukeir; Editing by Tom Hogue and Michael Perry)