The Janjaweed (Arabic: جَنْجَويد, romanized: Janjawīd; also transliterated Janjawid[5]) are an Arab nomad militia group from the Sahel region[6] that operates in Sudan, particularly in Darfur, and eastern Chad.[7] They have also been speculated to be active in Yemen.[8] According to the United Nations definition, Janjaweed membership consists of Arab nomad tribes from the Sahel, the core of whom are from the Abbala Arabs, traditionally employed in camel herding, with significant recruitment from the Baggara.
The origin of the word Janjaweed is unclear. It may derive from the Arabic words jinn (Arabic: جِنّ, lit. 'hidden, demon or insane') and ʾajāwīd (Arabic: أَجاويد, lit. 'horses, horsemen'), and thus has been translated into English by some sources as "devils on horseback".[12] Other sources suggest it may derive from the Persian word jangavi (Persian: جنگجوی, lit. 'warriors'),[13] or a portmanteau of three words: جَن (jan) from English "gun"; jinn; and ʾajāwīd.[14]
In Darfur, a western state in Sudan, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi supported the creation of the Tajammu al-Arabi (Arab Gathering) militia, which was described by Gérard Prunier as "a militantly racist and pan-Arabist organization which stressed the 'Arab' character of the province".[15]: 45 The Arab Gathering shared members and a source of support with the Islamic Legion, and the distinction between the two is often ambiguous.[citation needed]
The nearly continuous cross-border raids contributed to a separate ethnic conflict within Darfur that killed about 9,000 people between 1985 and 1988.[15]: 61–65 The Janjaweed leadership has some background in Gaddafi's mercenary forces.[16][17]
Throughout the 1990s, the Janjaweed were Arab partisans who pursued a local agenda of controlling land, and were tolerated by the Sudan Government. The majority of Darfur’s Arabs, the Baggara, became involved in the war over grazing territory.[18][page needed] In 1999–2000, faced with threats of insurgency in Western and Northern Darfur, Khartoum’s security armed the Janjaweed forces.[citation needed]
Janjaweed are omnipresent. They are seen in marketplaces and within walking distance of refugee camps.
As the insurgency escalated in February 2003, spearheaded by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudanese government responded by using the Janjaweed as its main counter-insurgency force. Janjaweed forces were ordered to attack and recover the rebel-held areas of Darfur, conducting a campaign against rebels in Darfur. In 2004, the U.S. State Department and others named leading Janjaweed commanders, including Musa Hilal, as genocide suspects. By early 2006, many Janjaweed had been absorbed into the Sudan Armed Forces including the Popular Defense Forces and Border Guards. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed expanded to include some Arab tribes in eastern Darfur who were not historically associated with the original Janjaweed. A political base was also reestablished in Chad as part of the United Front for Democratic Change (FUC) coalition.[3][19]
In 2023, international diplomats insisted that the RSF merge into the Sudanese Army as part of the Sudanese transition to democracy.[23] By April 2023, power struggles developed between Sudan's de facto national leader, army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the leader of the RSF, Hemedti. On 15 April 2023, clashes between RSF and army forces erupted across the country.[23][24] By the second day of the conflict, 78 people had been reported killed. Among the dead were three World Food Programme (WFP) workers, triggering the organization to suspend its work in Sudan, where it had been a principal force in alleviating hunger. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres demanded immediate justice for the killings and called for an end to the conflict.[23][24][needs update]
Diplomats from the African Union and Saudi Arabia mediated a three-hour humanitarian ceasefire to permit the evacuation of the injured. Despite this, the battles continued, as both sides claimed to have seized control of key sites in and around the capital city.[23][24][needs update]
^ abDahir, Abdinoor Hasan. "Soldiers of Fortune: The Evolving Role of Sudanese Militias in Libya"(PDF). /researchcentre.trtworld.com. TRT WORLD research centre. Retrieved 22 September 2023. In 2006, the Janjaweed militia was absorbed into the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Border Guards. Khartoum appointed Musa Hilal, the commander of the militia, as the head of the Border Guards.
^Suleiman, Mahmoud A. (17 September 2018). "Sudanese have become prey of mercenaries and Janjawid militias". sudantribune.com. Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 22 September 2023. The Janjaweed established their presence on the Sudanese political scene very quickly. They are associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), fighting alongside them in the Sudanese states of the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, as well as in the Darfur region.