The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة السودانية, romanized: Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the forces' numbers at 109,300 personnel.[3] The CIA estimates that the SAF may have up to 200,000 personnel.[4] While Al Jazeera Media Network report that's the Sudanese Armed Force have around 300,000 personnel (without counting the reserve forces and the different paramilitary).[5]
In 2016–2017, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had 40,000 members participating in the Yemeni Civil War (of which 10,000 returned to Sudan by October 2019).[6] The outbreak of the ongoing war in the country saw the SAF and RSF fighting each other.[7]
The origins of the Sudanese army can be traced to six battalions of black soldiers from southern Sudan, recruited by the British during the reconquest of Sudan in 1898.[8] Sudan officially became the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1899. The highest-ranking British officer in Egypt, known as the Sirdar, also served as Governor General of the Sudan. In 1922, after nationalist riots stimulated by Egyptian leader Saad Zaghloul, Egypt was granted independence by the United Kingdom. The Egyptians wanted more oversight in the Sudan and created specialized units of Sudanese auxiliaries within the Egyptian Army called Al-Awtirah. This became the nucleus of the modern Sudanese Army.
The British Army formed the Sudan Defence Force (SDF) as local auxiliaries in 1925. The SDF consisted of a number of separate regiments. Most were made up of Muslim soldiers and stationed in the north, but the Equatoria Corps in the south was composed of Christians.[9] During the Second World War, the SDF augmented allied forces engaging Italians in Ethiopia. They also served during the Western Desert Campaign, supporting Free French and Long Range Desert Group operations at Kufra and Jalo oases in the Libyan Desert. "In 1947, the Sudanese military schools were closed, and the number of Sudanese troops was reduced to 7,570."[10] In 1948, the first Arab-Israeli War broke out. Sudanese Colonel Harold Saleh Al-Malik selected 250 combat-seasoned soldiers who had seen action in World War II. They arrived in Cairo to participate in a parade and were then dispatched to various units of the Egyptian army. This was a grave mistake, for the Sudanese had fought together in World War II and this broke unit cohesion. The decision was indicative of Egyptian military planners of the period. Forty-three Sudanese were killed in action in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1953, the British and the new Egyptian government reached an agreement that Sudan was to be put on the path of independence. General Ahmed Mohammed became Sudan's first army chief in August 1954. This is significant for the Sudanese, for it was the first time it had an independent army that was not governed by Britain or Egypt.[citation needed]
In July 1951, Maj Gen Lashmer Whistler, Commandant of the Sudan Defence Force, wrote in British Army Review, (Issue 6, July 1951) that at that point the SDF comprised four infantry/camel units, a signals regiment, an AA artillery regiment and other units. In March 1954 British troops in the Sudan consisted of one battalion stationed in Khartoum, reporting ultimately to the Governor-General.[11] The Governor-General's military commander was the Major-General Commanding British Troops in the Sudan, who was also Commandant of the Sudan Defence Force. In this post from 1950 onward was Major General Reginald 'Cully' Scoons.[12] The last British troops, 1st Battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment, left the country on 16 August 1955.[13] All of the British troops were gone by the end of August 1955.[14]
The Equatoria Corps mutinied at Torit on 18 August 1955, just before independence, prompting the formation of the Anyanya guerilla movement and the First Sudanese Civil War.[15] No. 2 Company of the Equatoria Corps had been ordered to make ready to move to the north for ceremonies marking the exit of the last British troops, but instead of obeying, the troops mutinied, along with other Southern soldiers across the South in Juba, Yei, Yombo, and Maridi.[16] Thousands of Northern troops were flown in to suppress the mutiny, and by the month's end, the Equatoria Corps had been "eliminated."[17]
"In the aftermath of the 1954 Torit mutiny, Northern servicemen who had left the forces after the Second World War were allowed to return to the colours, and additional recruitment took place."[18]
On independence in 1956, the army was "regarded as a highly trained, competent ... force, but its character changed in succeeding years." Army officers, however, had begun considering involvement in politics by the eve of independence.[17] Numbers began expanding before independence, reaching 12,000 personnel by 1959, and leveled off at nearly 50,000 in 1972.[19] After independence, the military -particularly the educated officer corps- became more and more politically involved; soldiers associated themselves with parties and movements across the political spectrum."[19] On November 17, 1958, the army's two senior generals, Major General Ibrahim Abboud, the armed forces commander, and Ahmad Abd al Wahab, seized power in a military coup.[20] "The coup in the Sudan, far from being a take-over.. by the army, was a hand-over to the army. It was a coup by courtesy.. in response to the demand for emergency measures.." by the head of the government, Abdallah Khalil.[20]
The First Sudanese Civil War broke out in a series of actions in the south in late 1963 and early 1964. Attacks on police posts and convoys began in September 1963, and the higher-profile early attack on the Armed Forces came in January 1964, when rebels attacked the barracks at Wau, Sudan.[21] President Abboud was forced to step down following demonstrations which began in mid-1964.
During 1969 the Sudanese Army consisted of about 26,500 men, four infantry brigades of four battalions each, three independent infantry battalions, one armoured regiment, a parachute regiment, an armoured regiment and three artillery regiments.[22] After independence, British advisers helped train the Army and Air Force, and British equipment predominated in the ground forces.[23] There were 50 Alvis Saladins, 60 Ferret armoured cars, and 45 Commando armoured cars, about 50 25-pounders, 40 105-mm howitzers, 20 120-mm mortars, and 80 Bofors 40-mm guns.
On 25 May 1969, several young officers, led by Colonel Jaafar Nimeiry, seized power in a military coup, thus bringing the army into political control for the second time. From 1969 until 1971, a military government – the National Revolutionary Command Council, composed of nine young officers and one civilian – exercised authority over a largely civilian cabinet.[24] The council represented only a faction within the military establishment. From 1971 Nimeiri led a more civilian-based government. The first civil war ended in a negotiated settlement in 1973 by General Ismail. Sudan sent a brigade with infantry and supporting elements to the Sinai peninsula as a reinforcement to the Egyptian forces during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[25] It arrived too late, on 28 October 1973 and saw no fighting.
Diplomatic and military relations with Britain and other Western nations were broken after the June 1967 Arab–Israeli War, and the breach was filled by close military cooperation with the Soviet Union.[23] Soviet assistance coincided with a dramatic expansion in Sudan Armed Forces personnel from 18,000 in 1966 to nearly 50,000 by 1972.[23] The bulk of the equipment used by the ground and air forces throughout the 1970s until the early 1980s was of Soviet manufacture, including tanks, artillery, and MiG combat aircraft.
The Second Sudanese Civil War broke out again in 1983 and continued until 2005. The Armed Forces operated under the authority of the People's Armed Forces Act 1986.[26]
By the time of the coup in 1989, over fifty percent of most Army units were staffed by soldiers and NCOs from the South. Most had little commitment or dedication to the government – they joined for the sugar and other rations given to soldiers, as well as the salary. Although they often acquitted themselves well in battle, generally surrendering only when their food and ammunition were depleted, they had little stomach for offensive operations. Under President Omar al-Bashir who seized power in the 1989 coup, armed forces under the government of Sudan included the Land Forces, the Sudanese Navy, the Sudanese Air Force, and the Popular Defence Forces, which were formed in 1989.
The Land Forces were "basically a light infantry force in 1991, supported by specialized elements. ... [C]ontrol extended from the headquarters of the general staff in Khartoum to the six regional commands (central, eastern, western, northern, southern, and Khartoum). Each regional command was organized along divisional lines. Thus, the Fifth Division was at Al-Ubayyid in Kurdufan (Central Command), the Second Division was at Khashm El Girba (Eastern Command), the Sixth Division was assigned to Al-Fashir in Darfur (Western Command), the First Division was at Juba (Southern Command), and the Seventh Armoured Division was at As Shajarah just south of Khartoum (Khartoum Command). The Airborne Division was based at Khartoum International Airport. The Third Division was located in the north, although no major troop units were assigned to it. Each division had a liaison officer attached to general headquarters in Khartoum to facilitate the division's communication with various command elements. This organisational structure did not provide an accurate picture of actual troop deployments. All of the divisions were understrength. The Sixth Division in Darfur was a reorganised brigade with only 2,500 personnel. Unit strengths varied widely. Most brigades were composed of 1,000 to 1,500 troops."[27] Keegan, writing in 1983, indicated that the northern command was located at Shendi.
To reduce the pressure on the regular armed forces, the Sudanese government made extensive use of militias, such as the South Sudan Defence Forces. This largely symbolic coalition of seven groups was formed with the signing of the Khartoum Peace Agreement with the NIF in 1997. The SSDF was led by former Garang lieutenant Riek Machar.[28]
In 2004, the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress estimated that the Popular Defence Forces, the military wing of the National Islamic Front, consisted of 10,000 active members, with 85,000 reserves.[29] The Popular Defence Forces were deployed alongside regular army units against various rebel groups. In 2005, in accordance with the provisions of the Naivasha Comprehensive Peace Accord, Joint Integrated Units were formed together with the rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army. In this regard, Afdevinfo did report that the 1st Division at Juba had been disbanded.
