By Khalid Abdelaziz, Jana Choukeir and Nafisa Eltahir DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) -The Sudanese army seized full control of the presidential palace in downtown Khartoum on Friday, it said in a statement, in what would be a major gain in a two-year-old conflict with a rival armed group that has threatened to partition the country.

Sudan’s military says it retook the Republican Palace in Khartoum, the last heavily guarded bastion in the capital of rival paramilitary forces, after nearly two years of fighting.

Sudan's army recaptured the presidential palace in Khartoum from the Rapid Support Forces on Friday, dealing a major blow to the paramilitaries who responded with drone attacks that killed a news crew and soldiers.