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Sudanese Armed Forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة السودانية, romanized: Al-Qūwāt Al-Musallaḥah as-Sūdāniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at 109,300 personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and 300,000 personnel in 2024 (by Al Jazeera).
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). As of 2025, the SAF and RSF remain in armed conflict against one another in the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
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. 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. 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." 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. 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. The last British troops, 1st Battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment, left the country on 16 August 1955. All of the British troops were gone by the end of August 1955.
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. 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. Thousands of Northern troops were flown in to suppress the mutiny, and by the month's end, the Equatoria Corps had been "eliminated".
"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."
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. Numbers began expanding before independence, reaching 12,000 personnel by 1959, and leveled off at nearly 50,000 in 1972. 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." 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. "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.
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Sudanese Armed Forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; Arabic: القوات المسلحة السودانية, romanized: Al-Qūwāt Al-Musallaḥah as-Sūdāniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at 109,300 personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and 300,000 personnel in 2024 (by Al Jazeera).
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). As of 2025, the SAF and RSF remain in armed conflict against one another in the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
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. 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. 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." 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. 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. The last British troops, 1st Battalion Royal Leicestershire Regiment, left the country on 16 August 1955. All of the British troops were gone by the end of August 1955.
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. 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. Thousands of Northern troops were flown in to suppress the mutiny, and by the month's end, the Equatoria Corps had been "eliminated".
"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."
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. Numbers began expanding before independence, reaching 12,000 personnel by 1959, and leveled off at nearly 50,000 in 1972. 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." 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. "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.