SUMMARY

In August 2003, the JVA (Juba Valley Alliance) leadership under Barre Adan Shir “Hiirale” and JVA´s local responsible Colonel Omar Jess started to strengthen internal discipline. In doing so, they started to partly disarm their members and to dissolve roadblocks set up by JVA members on their own initiative and for their own profit. This led to growing dissatisfaction by parts of the JVA, some of whom started to fight the JVA leadership.

The non-state conflict between JVA and JVA faction is first included in UCDP data in 2003. In October of that year fighting between the two groups led to more than 25 battle-related deaths.