A notorious paramilitary group fighting against the Sudanese military says its forming a rival government that will rule parts of the country controlled by the group, including the western Darfur region.

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.

Fighting around Sudan’s largest oil refinery has set the sprawling complex ablaze, sending thick, black smoke over the country’s capital, Khartoum.

Sudan’s military says its leader, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, has survived a drone attack on an army graduation ceremony he was attending in the country’s east.

Sudan’s paramilitary leader has announced plans to attend cease-fire talks in Switzerland next month arranged by the United States and Saudi Arabia.