A Generation of Mysteries?

The history and the conflicts in which Sudanese Government armed forces have been involved are of interest both from the Sudanese historical and the military-historical angles. But while the agonies of Sudan’s civil wars have attracted significant academic interest, the structures, characteristics, and operating methods of official military institutions in Africa have been neglected, and there is little recent research. Sudanese military intervention in politics, including five successful coups, has been discussed since Ruth First’s book in 1970 and before. There were at least 16 coups and attempted coups by the Sudanese Armed Forces from 1957 to 1976. But there is little coverage of the security forces, and there is little available to cover the Sudanese army’s more specifically military record. Thus it is worthwhile to draw the available scattered threads together to start to form a basis for further research. The Sudanese Armed Forces’ frequent political involvement will be signposted and wound in as necessary—ultimately armies are a function of their governments—but is not the function of this article. What emerges is scattered fragments on military forces and operations, overlaid on the unrelenting drumbeat of horrible details from the first Sudanese civil war.