By Khalid Abdelaziz, Jana Choukeir and Nafisa EltahirDUBAI/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.

The fall of the Republican Palace, a compound along the Nile River that was the seat of government before the war erupted and is immortalized on Sudanese banknotes and postage stamps, marks another battlefield gain for Sudan’s military. It has made steady advances in recent months under army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

Sudan’s army and its supporters are celebrating across the country after troops recaptured the presidential palace in the capital, Khartoum. Friday’s victory is perhaps the army’s most symbolic since launching a key counteroffensive against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in September last year.