The Union of Resistance Forces (french: Union des forces de la résistance, ar, اتحاد قوى المقاومة; abbreviated UFR) is an alliance of Chadian rebel groups.
Origins
The UFR was founded in mid-January 2009 as an alliance of eight separate rebel groups:
History
The UFR was established near the end of the
Chadian Civil War (2005–2010)
The most recent Chadian Civil War began on December 18, 2005. Since its independence from France in 1960, Chad has been swamped by the civil war between the Arab-Muslims of the north and the Sub-Saharan-Christians of the south. As a result, ...
by rebel groups opposed to the government of President
Idriss Déby
Idriss Déby Itno ' (18 June 1952 – 20 April 2021) was a Chadian politician and military officer who was the president of Chad from 1990 until his death in 2021.
Déby was a member of the Bidayat clan of the Zaghawa ethnic group. A high-ran ...
. Timane Erdimi, nephew of Déby and leader of the RFC, was appointed the head of the alliance. UFR forces suffered severe losses to the Chadian Army at the Battle of Am Dam in May 2009 and the
Battle of Tamassi
The Battle of Tamassi took place around the village of Tamassi in Eastern Chad during the Chadian Civil War. This was the last major military engagement fought during the war until a peace deal was reached later that year.
Battle
On 24 April, ...
in April 2010. The severe casualties suffered by the UFR, along with peace agreements signed between Chad and
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...
, led the alliance to splinter and disperse. It began to reconstitute itself in neighboring
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
Libyan National Army
The Libyan National Army (LNA; ar, الجيش الوطني الليبي, ''al-jaysh al-waṭaniyy al-Lībii'') is a component of Libya's military forces which were nominally a unified national force under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa ...
(LNA), attempting to capture the towns of Ras Lanuf and Sidra alongside the Benghazi Defense Brigades. An LNA offensive against rebel groups based in Libya's south led the UFR to re-enter Chad in January of 2019. Between February 3 and February 6, 2019, the
French Air Force
The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Arm ...
initiated a bombing campaign against UFR targets in the
Ennedi Plateau
The Ennedi Plateau is located in the northeast of Chad, in the regions of Ennedi-Ouest and Ennedi-Est. It is considered a part of the group of mountains known as the Ennedi Massif found in Chad, which is one of the nine countries that make up t ...
region as part of
Operation Barkhane
Operation Barkhane was an anti-insurgent operation that started on 1 August 2014 and formally ended on 9 November 2022. It was led by the French military against Islamist groups in Africa's Sahel region. On 9 February, 2019 the Chadian army claimed to have captured 250 UFR rebels, including four leaders, and destroyed forty vehicles.
In February 2022, the Transitional Military Council of Chad alleged that the UFR was trying to enlist the
Wagner Group
The Wagner Group (russian: Группа Вагнера, Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner ( «Вагнер», ChVK «Vagner»; ), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company (PMC), a ...
to aid them in the ongoing
Insurgency in Northern Chad
In 2016, the Front for Change and Concord in Chad (FACT) and the Military Command Council for the Salvation of the Republic (CCMSR) began a rebellion against the Chadian government. From their rear bases in southern Libya, FACT and CCMSR have l ...