Sudan

Conflict Status: Non-International Armed Conflict (NIAC)

Conflict Start: 2011

Parties:

  1. Armed Forces of Sudan
  2. Sudan Revolutionary Front
  3. Sudan People’s Liberation Front-North
  4. Sudanese Liberation Army

Background:

Sudan has experienced conflict dating back to 1955. The first Sudanese Civil War began as a revolt against British rule, but also involved separatist’s desires in Southern Sudan. Though fighting ended in 1972, it reignited again in the second Sudanese civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. This conflict resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands and resulted involved crimes on both sides, particular in Darfur. A fragile peace was signed in 2005 and in 2011, the republic of South Sudan gained official recognition as the world newest independent nation.

However, despite independence in southern Sudan, conflict still rages in the border areas. Indeed, another conflict, dubbed he Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, also referred to by some media as the Third Sudanese Civil War, is an ongoing armed conflict in the Sudanese southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Army of Sudan (SAF) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which is a northern affiliate of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. SPLM-N split from the newly-independent SPLM in 2011 and took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).

As of October 2014, some two million people have been affected by the conflict, with more than 500,000 having been displaced and about 250,000 of them fleeing to South Sudan and Ethiopia. In January 2015, fighting intensified as Omar al-Bashir’s government tried to regain control of rebel-held territory ahead of April 2015 general elections. There have been several ceasefire attempts but they are often violated. Sporadic armed incidents still occur well into 2019.

Recent updates: