SUMMARY
SLFA (Sudan Liberation Force Alliance), previously known as SLM/A – Unity (Sudan Liberation Movement/Army – Unity), was a Sudanese rebel group that splintered from the SLM/A) and formed following the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in May 2006. It began as an unorganized group of nineteen, mostly Zaghawa commanders, who were disappointed with the leadership of the SLM/A) under Abdul Wahid. As a result, the Group of 19 (G-19) as they came to be known, separated from the SLM/A during the negotiations for the DPA but they lacked a political strategy, were not involved in the negotiations and rejected the agreement. The G-19 later renamed itself SLM/A – Unity and subsequently became the largest faction to splinter from the SLM/A).
SLM/A – Unity maintained the same objective as the SLM/A) and sought to establish a secular Sudan with a decentralized form of governance. This included self-determination for the region of Darfur. In addition, it emphasized the significance of having positive relations with local communities and their tribal leaders, which they identified as having been alienated by the SLM/A) due to its behavior. In particular, it sought to defend the African population of Darfur that had been particularly targeted by forces belonging to the Government of Sudan.
Members of SLM/A – Unity were mostly from North Darfur and drew predominantly from the Zaghawa although it maintained a multicultural dynamic and included other ethnic groups such as the Masalit too. Amarai and Hashaba, located in North Darfur, were the main bases of support for the group. In early 2009, some commanders and fighters left SLM/A – Unity to join JEM but the group claimed that many later returned to SLM/A – Unity after becoming disillusioned with their choice.
The SLM/A – Unity is believed to have had at least 5000 troops and its weaponry consisted of small arms.
Abdallah Yahya was the Chairman of SLM/A – Unity; he was a popular Zaghawa commander from Amarai, North Darfur. Dr. Sharif Harir was another key leader of the group; he was a Zaghawa intellectual and veteran fighter, who also co-founded the NRF and had close connections to Eritrea and Chad. Other significant figures included: Ahmad Kubbur, who was a Rizeigat commander from South Darfur, and Suleiman Jamous, who served as the humanitarian coordinator and previously as the humanitarian coordinator for SLM/A – MM. Mahgoub Hussein was the spokesman for SLM/A – Unity.
Under its initial name of G-19, SLM/A – Unity entered a tactical alliance with the NRF and fought against the Government of Sudan for several months during 2006 before the alliance fell apart. On 13 April 2012, SLM/A – Unity signed a pact with JEM establishing an alliance between the two armed rebel groups. It then went on to form the Sudan Liberation Front Alliance in July 2017 with two small Darfur-based rebel groups; one faction of JEM led by Abdallah Bishr Gali and the Sudan Liberation Movement for Justice led by Tahir Hajar.
The Government of Chad provided weapons and material support to SLM/A – Unity, although it received less support than JEM, which mirrored the behavior of the Sudanese government towards Chadian rebel groups. The Chadian government perceived this as an attempt to either overthrow the regime or force it to cooperate with Sudan on its terms. The Government of Libya also provided a small amount of non-military support to SLM/A – Unity due to its interest in preventing the conflict in Darfur from being resolved through a solution involving international peacekeeping and mediation.
