Conflicts of Northern Africa
Civil war has been very prevalent in northern Africa since the 1980's. There have been quite a few civil wars that have occurred in northern Africa. This page will focus on some of the civil wars that fall in the 1980's to the present day. Civil war has a huge impact on the culture and lives of people who live in the countries affected. It completely alters the lives of the people involved. It is important to learn from history and contemporary affairs in order to try to avoid conflicts in the future.
Chadian Civil War (1979-2003)
Civil war has been very prevalent in northern Africa since the 1980's. There have been quite a few civil wars that have occurred in northern Africa. This page will focus on some of the civil wars that fall in the 1980's to the present day. Civil war has a huge impact on the culture and lives of people who live in the countries affected. It completely alters the lives of the people involved. It is important to learn from history and contemporary affairs in order to try to avoid conflicts in the future.
Chadian Civil War (1979-2003)
Timeline of Chadian civil war
The Chadian conflict that occurred was a snowball effect of many events that angered the leaders of both Libya and Chad. The war broke out in Chad between the north and south. The north had the backing of Habre and his troops. Visit these links to learn more about the constant unrest in Chad.
- (1982) Hissene Habre seized power, became dictator
- (1982) Capital city of N'Djamena captured by Habre's troops
- (1983) Libya continued to assist Oueddei's forces in the north
- (1992) Commission established in Chad accused Habre and his regime of 40,000 political killings, 200,000 torture cases
- (1994) Libyan claims on Aouzou rejected by International Court of Appeals; court ruled Chad had sovereignty over the strip
- (1996) Idriss Deby elected president with 70% of the votes in first multi-party election
- (Mid-1990s) President Deby restored basic functions of government, entered into agreements with World Bank and IMF for assistance in substantial economic reforms
- (1997) Locusts (as many as 200 locusts per square yard) spread across southwest Chad
- (2000) Complaint filed in Senegal against former dictator, Hissene Hebre, outlined allegations of political killings, tortures, disappearances
- (2000) Hissene Habre indicted by Senegalese court
- (2001) In presidential election, President Deby reelected
- (2002) Government and Movement for Democracy and Justice in Chad (MDJT) signed peace deal to end three-year civil war
- (2002) Four months after peace deal was signed, MDJT rebels and government forces clashed in the north, 64 killed
- (2002) Rebel leader of MDJT, Youssouf Togoimi, died from wounds after vehicle struck a land mine
- (2003) National Resistance Army (ANR) and government signed peace agreement
- (2003) Chad began pumping oil to a port in Cameroon
The Chadian conflict that occurred was a snowball effect of many events that angered the leaders of both Libya and Chad. The war broke out in Chad between the north and south. The north had the backing of Habre and his troops. Visit these links to learn more about the constant unrest in Chad.
Algerian Civil War 1990-1998
Algeria was working towards a liberal democracy in the late 1980's and early 1990's. In order to accomplish this task with some haste, the National Liberation Front arranged for Algeria's first elections. It was intended by the new regime to have the people rally behind the newly founded political liberalism, however it came to be the Islamist FIS (Front Islamique du Salut) that won the initial elections and it appeared as though they would end up winning the national elections as well. However, the National Assembly election was not allowed to run its course. In order to keep the FIS from gaining its power, the army intervened on January 11, 1992 to take President Chadli Benjadid from his seat and cancel the electoral proceedings. Rather than progressing into a civil society, Algeria slipped into a civil war of exceptional savagery and violence, which pitted a variety of armed Islamist groups, several of them spin-offs of the FIS, against the security forces of the state. Much of the violence that occurred were massacres of civilians, which included the 1997 killings by radical Islamists of around 400 people at Bentalha. To this day the conflict has claimed the lives of some 100,000 people (Calvert (Ed.),2003)
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Al Jazeera Algeria Test of Power part 1 An Authoritarian Era, 2014
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Al Jazeera Algeria Test of Power 2of2 An Era of Tempests, 2014
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War in Darfur (2003-)
The Darfur region lies within in the western part of Sudan, which is Africa's largest country. It is surronded by Libya, Chad, and Central African Republic. The population of Darfur was estimated in 2002 at about 6,000,000 people. Since 2003, the Darfur region has been the site of terrible violence, death, and displacement labeled by the U.S as "genocide." Despite what is currently the world's largest relief operation, efforts to calm the conflict and assist the approximately five million Darfurians suffering ongoing deprivation has seen few positive results. The end does not seem to be near for the violence that is occurring in Darfur (Sikainga, 2009)
"Environmental degradation and competition over resources can be understood as principal causes of communal conflict in Darfur, but the ongoing carnage is also a product of a long history of ethnic marginalization and manipulation by Sudan's ruling elites" (Sikainga, 2009). The conflict in Darfur has been an ongoing crisis and has not ceased. Many of the problems have been built up over a lot of different areas of focus. As if the internal tensions were not enough, Darfur has also suffered from the instability and conflicts that have plagued its neighbors, particularly Chad and Libya. There are a decent number of ethnic groups from Darfur that also live in Chad, which has made it easier for conflicts to spread across boarders (Sikainga, 2009).
"Environmental degradation and competition over resources can be understood as principal causes of communal conflict in Darfur, but the ongoing carnage is also a product of a long history of ethnic marginalization and manipulation by Sudan's ruling elites" (Sikainga, 2009). The conflict in Darfur has been an ongoing crisis and has not ceased. Many of the problems have been built up over a lot of different areas of focus. As if the internal tensions were not enough, Darfur has also suffered from the instability and conflicts that have plagued its neighbors, particularly Chad and Libya. There are a decent number of ethnic groups from Darfur that also live in Chad, which has made it easier for conflicts to spread across boarders (Sikainga, 2009).
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Inside Story - Darfur conflict: A rebel leader's death, 2011
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On our watch ... genocide in Darfur, 2014
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Resources
Calvert, J. (Ed.). (2003). H-Net Reviews. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7319
Chad History Timeline. (2017, April 07). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/chad/tdtimeln.htm
Sikainga, A. (2009). 'The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://origins.osu.edu/article/worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis-understanding-darfur-conflict
Calvert, J. (Ed.). (2003). H-Net Reviews. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=7319
Chad History Timeline. (2017, April 07). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/chad/tdtimeln.htm
Sikainga, A. (2009). 'The World's Worst Humanitarian Crisis': Understanding the Darfur Conflict. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://origins.osu.edu/article/worlds-worst-humanitarian-crisis-understanding-darfur-conflict