Wad Banda () is a locality located in

West Kordofan West Kordofan (; ) is one of the 18 wilayat or provinces of Sudan. In 2006 it had an area of 111,373 km2 and an estimated population of approximately 1,320,405. Al-Fulah is the capital of the state. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

History

In April 2004, a rebel group from Darfur attacked a rural area in Wad Banda locality in the morning. The governor of Western Darfur reported that the attack resulted in the seizure of satellite phones and prompted an armed patrol from Wad Banda to pursue the rebels. A confrontation followed in a different region, leading to the armed forces eliminating several rebels, destroying vehicles, and recovering weapons. In September 2007, rebels from Darfur, specifically the

Justice and Equality Movement The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM; , ') is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in December 2011. The JEM supported the removal ...

(JEM), conducted a bold raid deep into Sudan's Kordofan province, suggesting the

Darfur conflict The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups ...

's potential expansion. The raid targeted a Sudanese military base at Wad Banda, resulting in the seizure of weapons and police vehicles, and killing 41 policemen. This incident followed a previous attack on a garrison guarding Darfur's rail link to Khartoum. The Sudanese government responded by portraying the attack as an external threat and emphasized the need for unity to counter perceived international conspiracies. While rebel claims pointed to Wad Banda being a supply depot for government attacks on civilians in Darfur, they also highlighted ongoing civilian-targeted airstrikes using Sudanese MiG-29s and

Antonov Antonov (d/b/a Antonov Company, formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov or Antonov ASTC, and earlier the Antonov Design Bureau, for its chief designer, Oleg Antonov) is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and ...

bombers, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. In December 2011 during the

Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict and insurgency in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile (state), Blue Nile (known as the Two Areas) between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan Pe ...

between the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and ...

(SAF) and the

Sudan Revolutionary Front The Sudan Revolutionary Front (), or the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), was an alliance between Sudanese factions that was created in opposition to the government of President Omar al-Bashir. It was declared on 12 November 2011, following sev ...

(SRF), on 25 December, JEM leader

Khalil Ibrahim Khalil Ibrahim (; 1957 – 22 or 24 December 2011) was a Sudanese insurgent leader who was the founder of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) which he led until his death. In the 1990s Ibrahim served in several state governments of Suda ...

(part of SRF) was intercepted and killed along with 30 of his fighters west of Wad Banda. Sudanese state media reported Ibrahim was defeated in fighting with the army. JEM confirmed Ibrahim's death, but said he had been killed by an airstrike, not in combat with Sudanese ground troops. Ibrahim's death came one day after JEM fighters struck three villages in the state. In March 2015, tribal clashes in Wad Banda locality between the Shanabla and Gemesat tribes resulted in injuries to several people. An intervening police officer lost his life. The conflict prompted police intervention, and escalated to gunfire against the police. Authorities sent a significant military force to separate the combatants in the Um Girenat area. In October 2022, demonstrators belonging to the Hamar tribe allegedly ended their road blockade connecting

El Obeid El-Obeid (, ''al-ʾAbyaḍ'', lit."the White"), also romanized as Al-Ubayyid, is the capital of the state of North Kordofan, in Sudan. History and overview El-Obeid was founded by the pashas of Ottoman Egypt in 1821. It was attacked by th ...

North Kordofan North Kordofan () is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 185,302 km2 and an estimated population of 3,174,029 people (2018 est). El-Obeid is the capital of the state. North Kordofan is generally arid and desert. ...

and

El Fasher Al-Fashir or El Fasher () is the capital city of North Darfur, Sudan. It is a city in the Darfur region of southwestern Sudan, northeast of Nyala, Sudan. "Al-Fashir" (description) ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2007, webpage: A historica ...

North Darfur North Darfur State ( Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and an estimated population of approximat ...

. This occurred in the localities of El Khoei,

El Nehoud EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

, and Wad Banda in West Kordofan. They granted authorities a ten-day period to meet their request for establishing a new state known as 'Central Kordofan.' During the

2023 Sudan conflict 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

, on 25 April, Wad Banda witness clashes between the SAF and

Rapid Support Forces The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; ) is a paramilitary force formerly operated by the government of Sudan. The RSF grew out of, and is primarily composed of, the Janjaweed militias which previously fought on behalf of the Sudanese government. RSF ...

(RSF), and the RSF was reported to have taken Wad Banda.

References

{{Reflist Populated places in West Kordofan