The head of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces admitted in a speech to fighters on Sunday that the group had withdrawn from the capital but pledged the RSF would return stronger to Khartoum.
"I confirm to you that we have indeed left Khartoum, but... we will return with even stronger determination," Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo said in the speech, three days after the group said there would be "no retreat.”
It was Dagalo's first comment since the RSF were pushed back from most parts of Khartoum by the Sudanese army during a devastating war that has lasted two years.
Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, conceded in an audio message on Telegram that his forces left the capital last week as the army consolidated its gains.
Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan ruled out any reconciliation with the RSF in a video statement on Saturday in which he vowed to crush the group.
"We will neither forgive, nor compromise, nor negotiate," he said, reaffirming the military's commitment to restoring national unity and stability.
Earlier on Saturday, the army said it had taken control of a major market in Khartoum's twin city of Omdurman, which had previously been used by the RSF to launch attacks during a devastating two-year-old war.
Burhan also said fighters who "repent to the truth" could still be amnestied if they lay down their arms, particularly those who are in rebel-held areas.
