Sudan’s army launched a major assault on Khartoum in a bid to recapture the capital from the Rapid Support Forces.

It appears to be the army's first major offensive to regain the capital since the war began last year.

Sources within the Sudanese military and witnesses at the scene say Sudan’s army on Thursday launched an early morning offensive in the capital, Khartoum, against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in what appeared to be the army’s biggest operation since the conflict began.

Sudan's army has begun attacking paramilitary positions in the capital in a bid to regain ground. Witnesses reported heavy shelling and fighting as army troops tried to cross bridges across the Nile connecting the three adjoining cities that make up the greater capital: Khartoum,