List of rebel groups that control territory explained

This is a list of active rebel groups that control territory around the world whose domains may be subnational, transnational, or international. A "rebel group" is defined here as a polity that uses armed conflict in opposition to established government (or governments) for reasons such as to seek political change or to establish, maintain, or to gain independence. Groups that "control territory" are defined as any group that hold any populated or inhabited city, town, village, hamlet, or defined area that is under the direct administration or military control of the group. Such control may be contested and might be temporary or fluctuating, especially under the circumstance of conflict.

It does not include the governments of stable breakaway states or other states with limited recognition.

Rebel group	Conflict	Control since	Territory controlled	Notes	Leader	Headquarters
	Mali War Somali Civil War Yemeni Civil War	2006	Parts of Burkina Faso^[1] Parts of central and northern Mali^[2] Large parts of southern and central Somalia^[3] Small parts of Abyan Governorate^[4]		TBD	Tinzaouaten (Mali)^[5] Jilib (Somalia)^[6]
Boko Haram	Boko Haram insurgency	2009	Small parts of Borno, Kaduna and Niger States^[7]	Relocated to Kaduna State after the Battle of Sambisa Forest	Abu Umaimata	Chikun^[8] ^[9]
	Insurgency in Cabo Delgado Mali War Boko Haram insurgency Somali Civil War	2015	Large parts of Borno State^[10] ^[11] ^[12] Several villages in the Bari region^[13] Several villages in the Gao region^[14] Parts of Cabo Delgado Province^[15]	Designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations^[16]	Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi	Unknown
Indigenous People of Biafra	Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria	2021	Parts of the Former Republic of Biafra		Nnamdi Kanu	Unknown
Biafra Nations League	Bakassi Conflict	2021	Bakassi Peninsula		Princewill Chimezie Richards, Henry Edet	Bakassi Peninsula
Red Dragon	Anglophone Crisis	2019	Several villages in Lebialem department of Southwest Province in Cameroon^[17]	The Red Dragon militia controlling parts of Lebialem is loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia	Lekeaka Oliver	Unknown
Coalition of Patriots for Change	Central African Republic Civil War	2020	Parts of Central African Republic	Coalition of multiple groups including Anti-balaka, 3R, and MPC	François Bozizé^[18] ^[19]	N'Djamena, Chad^[20]
Mai-Mai	Kivu conflict	2003	Parts of northeastern DRC^[21]	Various groups	Various leaders	Depending on group
March 23 Movement		2012	Parts of North Kivu province^[22]		Bertrand Bisimwa
Nduma Defense of Congo-Renouveau		2015	Parts of North Kivu province^[23]		Shimiray Mwissa Guidon	Pinga
		2012	Parts of northern Mali^[24]		Bilal Ag Acherif	Kidal^[25]
Fano		2023	Parts of the Amhara Region^[26]		Zemene Kassie
Kachin Independence Army	Internal conflict in Myanmar	2011	Parts of Kachin State^[27]	Military wing of Kachin Independence Organisation	N'Ban La	Laiza
People's Defence Force		2021	Areas across Myanmar.^[28]	Created as opposition to military junta	Duwa Lashi La	Multiple local headquarters
MNDAA		2021	Kokang region.		Pheung Kya-shin
KNDF		2021			Khun Bedu
		2021	Parts of Chin State^[29]			Falam
Karen National Liberation Army		1966	Parts of Kayin State^[30] ^[31]	Military wing of Karen National Union	Saw Mutu Say Poe	Lay Wah
Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance	Casamance conflict	1982	Parts of Casamance region in Senegal.^[32]
Sudan Revolutionary Front	Sudan–SRF conflict	2011	Parts of South Kordofan state and Blue Nile state^[33]		Abdelaziz al-Hilu	Kauda^[34]
Tahrir al-Sham	Syrian civil war	2017	Part of Idlib Governorate in northwest Syria^[35]	Faction within the Syrian civil war opposed to the Syrian government	Abu Mohammad al-Julani	Idlib
Maghaweir al-Thowra		2016	Small pocket in the Syrian Desert adjacent to the Jordanian border and the Iraqi border^[36] ^[37]	Faction within the Syrian civil war opposed to the Syrian government and aligned with the United States		Al-Tanf
		2012	Territories in the north and east of Syria, mostly over the Euphrates River	Faction within the Syrian civil war allied to the Syrian government and opposed by Turkey	Îlham Ehmed, Mansur Selum	Qamishli
Syrian National Army		2017	Border areas of Northern Syria^[38]	Faction within the Syrian civil war opposed to the Syrian government and aligned with Turkey	Anas al-Abdah	Azaz^[39]
	Yemeni Civil War	2017	Some of the territory in South Yemen^[40] ^[41] ^[42]	Organized in response to various grievances of southern Yemenis. It maintains a tenuous peace with the Yemeni government.	Aidarus al-Zoubaidi	Aden
Houthi movement	Yemeni Civil War	2004	Most of former North Yemen, including the capital Sana'a, and parts of South Yemen^[43]	The Houthis control the Supreme Political Council,^[44] which is unrecognized by the international community	Mahdi al-Mashat	Sa'dah