| Sudan Liberation Movement | |
| War: | the Sudanese Civil Wars and other North and East African conflicts |
| Active: | 2002–present |
| Leaders: |
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| Area: | Western Sudan (mostly Darfur), northern South Sudan, southern Libya |
| Size: | 600–1,000 men as of 2009 (UN estimate)[1] |
| Partof: | Sudan Revolutionary Front |
| Allies: | |
| Battles: | |
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (Arabic: حركة تحرير السودان Ḥarakat Taḥrīr as-Sūdān; abbreviated SLM, SLA, or SLM/A) is a Sudanese rebel group active in Darfur, Sudan. It was founded as the Darfur Liberation Front[2] by members of three indigenous ethnic groups in Darfur: the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit,[3] among whom were the leaders Abdul Wahid al-Nur of the Fur and Minni Minnawi of the Zaghawa.[3]
General Omar al-Bashir and the National Islamic Front headed by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi overthrew the Sudanese government led by Ahmed al-Mirghani in 1989. A large section of the population in Darfur, particularly the non-Arab ethnicities in the region, became increasingly marginalized.[4] [5] These feelings were solidified in 2000 by the publication of The Black Book, which detailed the structural inequity in the Sudan that denies non-Arabs equal justice and power sharing. In 2002 Abdul Wahid al-Nur, a lawyer, Ahmad Abdel Shafi Bassey, an education student, and a third man founded the Darfur Liberation Front, which subsequently evolved into the Sudan Liberation Movement and claimed to represent all of the oppressed in the Sudan.[2]
In August 2008, a local Sun Air Boeing 737 carrying 100 passengers including 5 crew members, was hijacked by members belonging to the Sudan Liberation Movement or SLM.[6] The regional flight operated by the private Sudanese airlines Sun Air was en route from Nyala, South Darfur to Khartoum when it was diverted by the Darfuri rebels to the oasis town of Kufra, in southern Libya. SLM leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur who lived in Paris at the time, denied his involvement in the hijacking and condemned the rebels' use of hijacking to bring attention to their cause.[7] SLA field commander Ibrahim al-Hillo suggested that the Boeing hijackers could be al-Nur sympathizers as the SLA had started to break up at the time of hijacking.[8] The 95 passengers were eventually freed unharmed and the 5 crew members were also released. Al Nur said of the hijacking that Khartoum was attempting to manipulate the hijacking news as a tactic to draw attention away from the government's earlier attack on the Kalma refugee camp which killed 70 civilians.[9] Kalma camp is located near the Nyala airport. The hijackers were detained by Libyan authorities. While the government attack occurred close to the hijacking, it didn't appear to be a motive for the hijacking.
Before the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi during the Libyan Civil War (2011), the Libyan Armed Forces were known to support at least parts of the SLM/A, such as the SLA-Unity. In turn, elements of the SLM/A reportedly became involved in the Second Libyan Civil War, fighting for different factions there in exchange for money and equipment. The SLM/A-Minnawi allied itself with the Khalifa Haftar-aligned Libyan National Army (LNA), and fought alongside it in the Battle of Derna (2018–2019), losing several fighters in the battle.[10] On 12 January 2019, the SLM/A-Minnawi clashed with the Chadian CCMSR rebel group (an enemy of the LNA) at Gatroun in southern Libya.[11] Later that month, the SLM/A was accused by the CCMSR of aiding an LNA offensive in southern Libya.[12]
The SLM (Minnawi) is led by Minni Minnawi and signed the 2006 (Abuja) Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006. Minnawi served as the Chairman of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority from its formation in 2007 to his dismissal in December 2010. The SLM-Minnawi faction formally withdrew from the peace agreement in February 2011.[13] [14] Unlike most other SPLM/A factions, the SLA-MM was active not just in Darfur, but also took part in the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.[15] The group has also taken part in the South Sudanese Civil War, fighting for the South Sudanese government against various rebel factions. The SLM-Minnawi was a participant in the 2019 Sudanese peace process .
The SLM (al-Nur)[16] was formed in 2006 and is led by Abdul Wahid al Nur. It rejected the 2006 (Abuja) Darfur Peace Agreement.[17] The SLM/A (al-Nur) does not officially insist on independence. The group includes both male as well as female fighters.[18] The group has also taken part in the South Sudanese Civil War, fighting for the South Sudanese government against various rebel factions. The SLM/A (al-Nur) maintains its stronghold in the Marrah Mountains as of 2021, holds a territory inhabited by about 300,000 people. The area is factually self-sufficient and mostly isolated from the rest of the Sudan. It runs a factual government there, training new troops, and has also built several schools, where hundreds of children receive daily education. The SLM/A (al-Nur) rejected the 2019 Sudanese peace process, arguing that Arab militias continued their attacks in Darfur and that the new Sovereignty Council of Sudan included many former commanders from the Bashir Era. However, the group was suffering from internal tensions at this point, as some of its factions were clashing with each other. One splinter group led by Zanoun Abdulshafi had begun to fight alongside the Arab militias.[19] Fighting between the SLM/A (al-Nur) and pro-government forces continues as of 2021.
The SLFA was created in July 2017 by joining a faction of the SLM-Unity, Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice, and a faction of the Justice and Equality Movement led by Abdallah Bishr Gali., the SLFA's chair was El-Taher Abu Bakr Hajar with Abdallah Yahia being the deputy chair.[20] In March 2021, El Taher Hajar was sworn as member of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council as part of the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement.[21]
As of March 2019, the SLM-TC was led by El-Hadi Idris Yahya, as a breakaway group from the SLM (al-Nur); the SLM-TC was opposed to negotiations with Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and participated in the Sudan Call alliance. In March 2021, El-Hadi Idris was sworn as member of Sudan's Transitional Sovereignty Council as part of the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement.[21]
The SLM (Tambour) was formed when Mustafa Tambour split in 2018 from the SLM (al-Nur) led by Abdul Wahid al Nur.[22] On 31 July 2023, the SLM (Tambour) announced that its forces had joined the SAF in fighting against the RSF during the 2023 Sudan conflict, claiming to have inflicted 68 casualties on the latter during fighting in Zalingei. Tambour's brother had previously been killed by the RSF.[23]
Minni Minawi signed a peace agreement on behalf of the Sudan Liberation Movement with the Transitional Government of Sudan on 31 August 2020 and the organisation will now participate in the transition to democracy in Sudan through peaceful means. Under the terms of the agreement, the factions that signed will be entitled to three seats on the sovereignty council, a total of five ministers in the transitional cabinet and a quarter of seats in the transitional legislature. At a regional level, signatories will be entitled between 30 and 40% of the seats on transitional legislatures of their home states or regions.[30] [31]
See main article: War in Sudan (2023).
The SLM (al-Nur) has established a zone-of-control around the town of Tawila after the withdrawal of both government and RSF forces in the region. This zone of control also includes several surrounding villages including Martal, Al-Aradib, Al-Ashra, Sortony, and Tibira in North Darfur, Kadner and Kankoro in South Darfur, and Katrom, Sabanga, Barqa, and Rofta in Central Darfur.[32]
On January 22, 2024, the combatants that signed the Juba Peace Agreement met for a summit in Cairo. Namely, Brigadier General Mubarak Bakhit, the Secretary of Presidential Affairs of the Gathering of Sudan Liberation Forces, Suleiman Sandal and Gibril Adam Bilal, Vice Presidents of the Justice and Equality Movement, and Seif al-Din Issa Advisor to the President of the SLM-TC, however, Minni Arko Minawi and his faction of the SLM did not attend. The gathering recommended that the Jeddah Declaration to Cessation of Hostilities be implemented, which outlined the withdrawal of all Rapid Support Forces personnel from Darfur.[33]
On March 24, 2024, Minawi announced that the 1,500 SLM fighters would join the Sudanese Armed Forces in fighting the Rapid Support Forces in order to "defend civilians and Sudan's sovereignty." SLM forces are to progress toward the country's center to expel the RSF from Khartoum and Gezira State.[34] [35]