Darfur Armed Opposition Groups and Coalitions

Following marginalization stretching back to colonial times, the Darfur rebellion began in 2003 as it became clear that negotiations between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) (operating mainly in the South and the Three Areas) and the Sudanese Government—that eventually led to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement—would exclude the region. The government's subsequent massive counter-insurgency and the intervention of material support and strategic guidance from Chad to the rebellion led to a protracted violent conflict and humanitarian disaster. Over time the number of distinct opposition groups expanded, driven by ethnic loyalties, local dynamics, and opportunism based on the intervention of neighbouring states. An international campaign to resolve the conflict led to the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) but only one of the four major rebel groups signed the agreement and fighting resumed shortly thereafter.

Following the DPA, armed opposition groups fractured further into multiple factions controlling small territories. In 2008 the peace process was revived but the most powerful opposition group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), has since withdrawn from the Darfur peace talks in Doha and continues to engage Sudanese forces. May 2010 was the bloodiest month of fighting since the African Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) started operating in January 2008, due largely to the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and JEM (which accounted for 440 of the 491 confirmed violent deaths, according to UNAMID). A Darfur map showing locations of armed opposition groups and coalitions as of May 2010 can be found here.

Click here for information on the following specific groups and coalitions:

Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and splinters

• Justice and Equality Movement (JEM)
• Democratic JEM
• United Resistance Front (URF)

Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) and splinters

• Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW)
• SLA-Historical Leadership/Command
• SLA-Khamis Abaker (SLA-KA)
• SLA-Juba
• SLA-Mainstream ('General Line')

Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi (SLA-MM) and splinters

• SLA-Minni Minawi (SLA-MM)
• Democratic Sudan Liberation Movement (DSLM) ('SLA-Carabino')
• SLA-Field Leadership
• SLA-Unity

Other

• Freedom and Reform Movement (FRM)
• Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM)

Updated August 2010

Click here for information on Chadian armed opposition groups operating in Darfur and Eastern Chad.

Relevant Tables, Maps, and Summaries

• Map of Armed Groups in Darfur, May 2010 (from UNAMID)
  Table showing areas of control of Darfur armed opposition groups
• Darfur-based Chadian Groups, September 2009 (from HSBA Issue Brief 15)
  Table of Chadian armed opposition groups operating in Darfur
• Refugee and IDP Camps in Darfur and Eastern Chad (from HSBA Working Paper 15)
  Map of camps circa 2008
• Chadian Armed Groups, February 2008 (from HSBA Issue Brief 9)
  Table of Chadian armed opposition groups as of February 2008 and their recent histories
• Darfur-based Militia-Rebel Agreements, 2005-07 (from HSBA Working Paper 17)
  Summary of peacemaking attempts by militias and rebels outside the official peace process
• Hamdan's Areas of Control, Darfur, 2007-08 (from HSBA Working Paper 17)
  Map showing Mohamed Hamdan's ('Hemeti') areas of control in Darfur
• Darfurian Rebel Groups, December 2006 (from HSBA Issue Brief 4)
  Table of SLA and JEM factions

Relevant HSBA Publications

• Rhetoric and Reality: The Failure to Resolve the Darfur Conflict, by Julie Flint, January 2010
• Beyond 'Janjaweed': Understanding the Militias of Darfur, by Julie Flint, June 2009 (in Arabic)
• Conflict, Arms, and Militarization: The Dynamics of Darfur's IDP Camps, by Clea Khan, September 2008 (in Arabic)
• The Chad-Sudan Proxy War and the 'Darfurization' of Chad: Myths and Reality, by Jérôme Tubiana, April 2008 (in Arabic; in French)
• Echo Effects: Chadian Instability and the Darfur Conflict, HSBA Issue Brief, February 2008 (in Arabic; in French)
• Divided They Fall: The Fragmentation of Darfur's Rebel Groups, by Victor Tanner and Jérôme Tubiana, July 2007 (in Arabic)
• Arms, Oil, and Darfur: The Evolution of Relations between China and Sudan, HSBA Issue Brief, July 2007 (in Arabic)
• No Dialogue, No Commitment: The Perils of Deadline Diplomacy for Darfur, HSBA Issue Brief, December 2006 (in Arabic)