SUMMARY

Popular Defence Force is an Islamist government-sponsored militia under the jurisdiction of the Sudanese army. PDF is a militia that is one out of many pro-governmental militias in Sudan. Moreover PDF is the militia with the closest relationship to the government. The relation and co-operation between different governmental militias and the regular army is often so tight that it is very hard to distinguish from them. For example in Darfur many witnesses have reported that it often is impossible to distinguish between PDF, Janjaweed and the regular army.

PDF has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.