The Popular Defense Forces (PDF, ar, قوات الدفاع الشعبي) was a paramilitary force established under the Popular Defense Forces Act of 1989, it was also part of the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whil ...

before its dissolution in 2019 following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir. The force had close links with the

National Islamic Front The National Islamic Front ( ar, الجبهة الإسلامية القومية; transliterated: ''al-Jabhah al-Islamiyah al-Qawmiyah'') was an Islamist political organization founded in 1976 and led by Dr. Hassan al-Turabi that influenced th ...

associated with former president Omar al-Bashir, and was originally formed as a dedicated Islamist militia. In 2015, the PDF largely operated as a reserve force for the Sudanese Armed Forces. Upon its foundation in 1989, several tribal militias throughout Sudan were integrated into the PDF, including the

Messiria tribe The Messiria (), known also under the name of Misseriya Arabs, are a branch of the Baggara ethnic grouping of Arabs, Arab tribes.Adam, Biraima M. 2012. Baggara of Sudan: Culture and Environment, Amazon online Books''Baggara of Sudan: Culture and ...

's ''murahiliin'', the

Rizeigat tribe The Rizeigat, or Rizigat, or Rezeigat (Standard Arabic Rizayqat) are a Muslim and Arab tribe of the nomadic Bedouin Baggara (Standard Arabic Baqqara) people in Sudan's Darfur region. The Rizeigat belong to the greater Baggara Arabs fraternity of ...

's ''fursan'', and the Fertit

Army of Peace The Army of Peace ( ar, جيش السلام, Jaysh al-Salam) was a large alliance of Fertit tribal militias in Western Bahr el Ghazal during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Although initially armed by the Sudanese government in order to fight agai ...

. In 2004, the

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...

of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

estimated that the Popular Defence Forces consisted of 10,000 active members, with 85,000 reserves. It had been deployed alongside regular army units against various rebel groups. In 2020, rumors were circulating that the Sudanese Armed Forces had absorbed the former PDF. However, the SAF confirmed that the PDF had been dissolved and its headquarters seized.

References

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last = Rone , first = Janera , title=Behind the Red Line: Political Repression in Sudan , language= , url= , date= 1996 , publisher=

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, location=

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, isbn= Arab militant groups Military of Sudan