Popular Defence Forces

The Popular Defense Forces (PDF, Arabic: قوات الدفاع الشعبي, romanized: Qūwāt al-Difāʻ al-Shaʻbī) are a Sudanese paramilitary force, the formulation of the ‘Popular Defence’ policy in Sudan goes back to 1985 after an attack on the village of al-Gardud in Kordofan state in July 1985, Following the attack, a government delegation to the area led by Minister of Defence Major General Burma Fadlallah Nasir was presented with a choice by native administration leaders: either provide security for the Arab Baggara communities of South Darfur and South Kordofan, or these communities would request such guarantees from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and de facto join the rebellion. Unable to redeploy the demoralized and overstretched military from the South, the delegation made a decision—without the authorization of the national Constituent Assembly—to arm the Baggara. Truckloads of ammunition and light weapons, mostly AK-47s and G3 rifles, were distributed directly to members of allied tribes,specifically the Rizeigat and the Misseriya Humr, through native administrative structures and leaders.