List of rebel groups that control territory

This is a list of active rebel groups that control territory around the world whose domains may be subnational, transnational, or international. A "rebel group" is defined here as a polity that uses armed conflict in opposition to established government (or governments) for reasons such as to seek political change or to establish, maintain, or to gain independence. Groups that "control territory" are defined as any group that hold any populated or inhabited city, town, village, hamlet, or defined area that is under the direct administration or military control of the group. Such control may be contested and might be temporary or fluctuating, especially under the circumstance of conflict.

It does not include the governments of stable breakaway states or other states with limited recognition.

Within state	Rebel group	Conflict	Control since	Territory controlled	Notes	Leader	Headquarters
Burkina Faso   Mali   Benin	JNIM	Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso Mali War	2006	Parts of Burkina Faso [1] Parts of central and northern Mali [2]		TBD	Tinzaouaten (Mali) [3]
Somalia	Al-Shabaab	Somali Civil War (2009–present)		Large parts of southern and central Somalia where it proclaimed the Islamic Emirate of Somalia [4]			Jilib (Somalia) [5]
	Puntland		2024	Northeastern Somalia		Said Abdullahi Deni	Garowe
	Jubaland			Southern Somalia		Sheikh Ahmed Madobe	Kismayo
Palestine	Hamas (Gaza Strip under Hamas)	Fatah–Hamas conflict	2007	Parts of the Gaza Strip		Hamas temporary committee	Gaza City
	Popular Forces (Popular Forces administration in the Gaza Strip)	Popular Forces–Hamas conflict	2024	Eastern Rafah Governorate aswell as parts of Khan Yunis [6]	Opposed to the Hamas government, backed by Israel	Yasser Abu Shabab	Al-Bayuk
Nigeria	Boko Haram	Boko Haram insurgency	2009	Parts of Borno, Kaduna, and Niger States [7]	Relocated to Kaduna State after the Battle of Sambisa Forest	Abu Umaimata	Chikun [8] [9]
Burkina Faso   Mali   Mozambique   Niger   Nigeria   Somalia	Islamic State	Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso Mali War Insurgency in Cabo Delgado Jihadist insurgency in Niger Boko Haram insurgency Somali Civil War	2015	Parts of Burkina Faso [1] Several villages in Gao [10] Parts of Cabo Delgado [11] Parts of southern Niger [12] Parts of Borno State [13] [14] [15] Several villages in Bari [16]	Designated a terrorist organization by the United Nations [17]	Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi	Unknown
Nigeria	Indigenous People of Biafra	Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria	2021	Parts of the former Republic of Biafra		Nnamdi Kanu	Unknown
Cameroon	Biafra Nations League	Bakassi conflict		Parts of the Bakassi Peninsula		Princewill Chimezie Richards, Henry Edet	Bakassi
	Red Dragon	Anglophone Crisis	2019	Several villages in Lebialem, Southwest Region [18]	Loyal to the Interim Government of Ambazonia	Lekeaka Oliver	Unknown
Central African Republic	Coalition of Patriots for Change [19] [20]	Central African Republic Civil War	2020	Parts of Central African Republic [19]	Coalition of multiple groups including Anti-balaka, [19] 3R, and MPC [20]	François Bozizé [19] [20]	N'Djamena, Chad [21]
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Mai-Mai	Kivu conflict	2003	Parts of northeastern DRC [22]	Various groups	Various leaders	Depending on group
	March 23 Movement		2012	Parts of North Kivu and South Kivu provinces [23]		Bertrand Bisimwa
	Nduma Defense of Congo-Renouveau		2015	Parts of North Kivu province [24]		Shimiray Mwissa Guidon	Pinga
Mali	Azawad	Mali War	2012	Parts of northern Mali [25]		Bilal Ag Acherif	Kidal [26]
Ethiopia	Fano	War in Amhara	2023	Parts of the Amhara Region [27]		Zemene Kassie
Myanmar	Kachin Independence Organization	Myanmar conflict Myanmar civil war	1960s	Parts of Kachin State [28]	Kachin militant group	N'Ban La	Laiza
	People's Defence Force		2021	Parts of Sagaing Region [29]	Burmese militant group, claim to be the legitimate government of Myanmar	Duwa Lashi La
	Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army		1989	Parts of northern Shan State	Kokang Chinese militant group	Peng Daxun	Laukkai
	Karenni IEC		2021	Parts of Kayah State	Karenni militant group	Khun Oo Reh
	Chinland			Parts of northern Chin State [30]	Chin militant group (Northern)	Pu Zing Cung	Camp Victoria
	Karen National Union		1947	Parts of Kayin State [31] [32]	Karen militant group	Padoh Saw Kwe Htoo Win	Lay Wah
	Palaung State Liberation Front		1992	Parts of northern Shan State	Palaung militant group	Tar Aik Bong Tar Bone Kyaw
	Chin Brotherhood Alliance		2023	Parts of southern Chin State	Chin militant group (Southern)
	Arakan Army		2009	Most of Rakhine State	Led by United League of Arakan	Twan Mrat Naing
	Wa State		1989	Parts of northern and southern Shan State	De facto independent state	Bao Youxiang	Pangkham
	Shan State Progress Party		1971	Parts of central Shan State	Shan militant group
	Restoration Council for Shan State		1996	Parts of southern Shan State		Yawd Serk	Loi Tai Leng
	Pa-O National Liberation Organization		2024		Pa-O militant group (Eastern)	Khun Thurein Khun Kyaw Htin
	Pa-O National Organisation		1949		Pa-O militant group (Western)	Aung Kham Hti
	Peace and Solidarity Committee		1989	Parts of eastern Shan State	Shan militant group (Eastern)	U Sai Leun
	Karen National Army		2024	Near Myawaddy, Kayin State	Karen militant group (Myawaddy)	Saw Chit Thu	Shwe Kokko
	Other small militant groups
Senegal	Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance	Casamance conflict	1982	Parts of Casamance [33]
Sudan	Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (al-Hilu)	Sudan–SRF conflict	2011	Parts of South Kordofan and Blue Nile [34]		Abdelaziz al-Hilu	Kauda [35]
	Rapid Support Forces	Sudanese civil war (2023–present)	2023	Territory across Sudan, mostly in the south and west.		Hemedti
Syria	Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria	Syrian civil war	2013	Territories in the north and east of Syria	Semi-allied to the Syrian interim government, allied to the United States, and opposed by Turkey and the SNA	Îlham Ehmed, Mansur Selum	Ayn Issa
Yemen	Southern Movement	Yemeni civil war	2017	Some of the territory in South Yemen [36] [37] [38]	Maintains a tenuous peace with the Yemeni government	Aidarus al-Zoubaidi	Aden
	Houthis		2004	Most of former North Yemen, including Sana'a, and parts of South Yemen in what has been referred to as Houthi Yemen [39]	Controls the Supreme Political Council, [40] unrecognized by the international community	Mahdi al-Mashat	Sa'dah

See also

• List of active rebel groups
• List of guerrilla movements
• List of designated terrorist groups
• List of ongoing armed conflicts
• Lists of active separatist movements
• Violent non-state actor
• Sovereign state
• Rival government
• Quasi-state
• Parallel state

References

1. State controls just 60 percent of Burkina Faso: ECOWAS mediator, 18 June 2022
2. "Speaking with the "Bad Guys": Toward Dialogue with Central Mali's Jihadists" (PDF). 28 May 2019. While the Malian army controls towns and their immediate vicinity, the jihadists rule the countryside, erecting checkpoints on rural roads and patrolling rivers
3. Pellerin, Mathieu (November 2019). "Armed violence in the Sahara" (PDF).
4. Osman, Jamal (15 June 2022). "Inside Al Shabaab". Channel4. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
5. "Somalia: Al-Shabaab Leaders Split Over Funds Control". AllAfrica. 27 March 2020.
6. Macales, Ben Tzion (3 June 2025). "מפת שליטה עדכנית של כוחות צה"ל ברצועת עזה - 09.06.2025" [Current control map of IDF forces in the Gaza Strip - 09.06.2025.]. X (in Hebrew). Ben Tzion Macales. Retrieved 9 June 2025.
7. "Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province" (PDF).
8. "DSS: Boko Haram relocating from Sambisa forest to Kaduna". 15 September 2021.
9. "Leaked DSS memo shows fleeing Boko Haram terrorists are moving to Kaduna". 15 September 2021.
10. Mémier, Marc (January 2017). AQMI et Al-Mourabitoun : le djihad sahélien réunifié? (PDF). Études de l’Ifri (in French). Institut français des relations internationales. p. 54. ISBN   978-2-36567-661-8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
11. "Winning Peace in Mozambique's Embattled North". 10 February 2022.
12. "Violent Extremism in the Sahel | Global Conflict Tracker". www.cfr.org. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
13. "Economics of terrorism in Lake Chad Basin". 10 July 2019.
14. "Several killed in fight between Boko Haram, ISWAP members". 20 January 2020.
15. Haruna, Abdulkareem (30 June 2022). "ISWAP Still Controls Vast Areas of Guzamala In Northeast". HumAngle.
16. "Letter dated 1 November 2019 from the Chair of the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolution 751 (1992) concerning Somalia addressed to the President of the Security Council" (PDF). 1 November 2019. p. 84.
17. "Security Council Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee Amends Entry". United Nations. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
18. "Cameroun/Sécurité au NoSo : l'étau se resserre autour de Field Marshall". ActuCameroun.com. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
19. "CAR says ex-president attempting 'coup' as rebels form coalition". 19 December 2020.
20. "François Bozizé: CAR accuses former president of 'attempted coup'". BBC.co.uk/News . BBC. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
21. François Bozizé et d'autres chefs rebelles centrafricains se trouvent à Ndjamena, 7 November 2021
22. ^[ dead link ]
23. Al-Hadji Kudra Maliro; Justin Kabumba (13 June 2022). "Congo military accuses Rwanda of invasion; rebels seize town". Washington Post. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
24. "NDC-R: Congo's Contract Militia Which "Killed" FDLR's Gen Sylvestre Mudacumura". 15 May 2020.
25. "Mali government seeks to assert control over restive north, to send troops to Kidal". 7 February 2020.
26. "A Tuareg soldier guards the Azawad Movement's headquarters in Kidal, northern Mali". Yahoo News. 5 June 2015.
27. "Ethiopia's Ominous New War in Amhara". 16 November 2023.
28. "Burma attack breaks Kachin truce near China border". BBC. 20 January 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2014. The rebels are seeking greater autonomy within Burma for ethnic Kachins who have had de facto control over a part of northern Burma for more than 50 years.
29. Myanmar's civilian president claims resistance controls nearly half the country, 10 May 2022
30. "Resistance to the Myanmar regime in Chin state – a photo essay". The Guardian. 24 January 2022.
31. "Six die in Myanmar Air Strikes on Karen Villages Near the Thai Border". 30 March 2021. Archived from the original on 27 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
32. "Myanmar army launches air strikes in Karen state, group says". Reuters. 27 March 2021. Archived from the original on 11 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
33. WESTWOOD: DEALING IN CONFLICT TIMBER, March 2020
34. "Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF)" (PDF). Human Security Baseline Assessment (HSBA) for Sudan and South Sudan. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2014. Corresponding to the SPLM-N's dominant role, the SRF's locus of control resides in its bastion in Kaoda, and the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan. Military activity is most prevalent in South Kordofan but extends to Blue Nile and into South Sudan's border states.
35. "Sudan's PM visits rebel stronghold on peace mission | MEO". MEO. 1 September 2020.
36. The New Arab (16 May 2017). "GCC: Aden-based Southern Transitional Council 'doomed to fail'". alaraby.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
37. The New Arab (11 May 2017). "Banished Aden governor forms independent "South Yemen" council". alaraby.co.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
38. Saudi Research & Marketing (uk) Ltd (13 May 2017). "Thirty Southern Figures Reject Transitional Council in Aden – ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English". ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English. english.aawsat.com. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
39. Al-Haj, Ahmed (2 June 2015). "Houthi Rebels Take Over Yemen's Government". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
40. "Yemen rebels form rival government". Qantara.de . Deutsche Welle. 5 October 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2021.