List of proxy wars

This is a list of proxy wars. Major powers have been highlighted in bold. A proxy war is defined as "a war fought between groups of smaller countries that each represent the interests of other larger powers, and may have help and support from these".

Pre-World War I proxy wars

War	Dates	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Sicilian Expedition	415–413 BC	Athens In support of: Segesta Supported by: Delian League	Sparta Corinth In support of: Syracuse Supported by: Peloponnesian League	Spartan-Corinthian-Syracusian victory
Egyptian–Ottoman War	1839–1841	Egypt-aligned powers: Egypt France Spain	Allied powers: British Empire Austrian Empire Russian Empire Kingdom of Prussia Ottoman Empire	Compromise
Uruguayan Civil War	1839–1851	Colorados Unitarian Party  Empire of Brazil Italian Legion France  Great Britain	Blancos  Argentine Confederation	Colorado victory
First Samoan Civil War	1886–1894	Tamasese German Empire	Mata'afans Supported by: United States	Stalemate
Second Samoan Civil War	1898–1899	Mata'afans German Empire	Samoa United Kingdom United States	Stalemate
Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903	1902–1903	United Kingdom[1]  German Empire[1] Italy[1] Supported by: Spain Mexico Belgium Netherlands	Venezuela[1] Supported by: Argentina United States[1]	Compromise
Somaliland campaign	1910–1920	Dervish State Supported by:  Ottoman Empire  German Empire  Ethiopian Empire (1913–1916)	British Empire[2]  Ethiopian Empire[2] Supported by:  Italian Empire[2] Sultanate of Hobyo[2]	Collapse of the Dervish State
Mexican Revolution and Mexican Border War	1910–1920	Pro-government Supported by: German Empire (1913–1918) United States (1910–1913)	Anti-government Supported by: German Empire (1913) United States (1913–1919) United Kingdom (1916–1918)

Inter-war period proxy wars

War	Dates	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Finnish Civil War	1918[3][4]	Finland[3][4] White Guard[3][4] Supported by:  Germany[3][4]	Red Guards[3][4] Supported by:  Russian SFSR[3][4]	Finnish Whites victory[3][4]
Revolutions and interventions in Hungary	1918–1920	Czechoslovakia Kingdom of Romania  Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes  First Czechoslovak Republic  France Kingdom of Hungary  Kingdom of Italy	Hungarian Democratic Republic Hungarian Republic of Councils Slovak Soviet Republic Supported by: Russian SFSR[5][6]	Hungarian defeat
Turkish War of Independence	1919–1923	Greece  France[7][8]  Armenia  United Kingdom[7] Istanbul Government[9]  Italy[10]  Georgia	Ankara Government Supported by:  Russian SFSR[11]  Italy (alleged)[10]  Azerbaijan SSR	Turkish victory[12][13][14]
Chinese Civil War	1927–1937, 1945–1950[15][16]	KMT NRA[15][16] Supported by:  Weimar Republic (1929–33)[15]  Nazi Germany (1933–37)[16]	CPC[15][16] PLA[15][16] Supported by:  Soviet Union[15][16]	Communist victory on the mainland and then diplomatic field in 1971, Taiwan Strait stalemate[15][16]
Chaco War	1932–1935	Bolivia Supported by: Standard Oil (alleged)[17]	Paraguay Supported by:  Argentina[18][19][20][21] Royal Dutch Shell (alleged)[17]	Paraguayan victory
Spanish Civil War	1936–1939[22][23]	Nationalists Supported by:  Italy Nazi Germany  Portugal	Republicans Supported by: Soviet Union  Mexico[24] France (1936)[25]	Nationalist victory

Cold War proxy wars

Main article: List of conflicts related to the Cold War

War	Dates	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Chinese Civil War	1944–1949[26]	CPC PLA[15][16] Supported by:  Soviet Union	KMT NRA Supported by:  United States	Communist victory on the mainland and then diplomatic field in 1971, Taiwan Strait stalemate
Iran crisis of 1946	1945–1946	Azerbaijan People's Republic Republic of Mahabad Supported by:  Soviet Union	Imperial State of Iran Supported by:  United States	Iranian victory
Greek Civil War	1946–1949[27][28]	Greek communists (Democratic Army of Greece, National Liberation Front, Greek People's Liberation Army, Communist Party of Greece)[27][28] Supported by: Albania[27]  Bulgaria[27]  Yugoslavia[27]	Greece[27][28] Supported by:  United Kingdom[27][28]  United States	Kingdom of Greece victory
First Indochina War	1946–1954[29][30]	Khmer Issarak[31] Pathet Lao[32] Viet Minh[29][30] Supported by:  China[29]  Soviet Union[29]  Polish People's Republic[33]  East Germany[34][page needed][35]	France[29][30] State of Vietnam (1949–1954)[29][30] Cambodia (1953–1954)  Laos (1953–1954) Supported by:  United States[29]	DR Vietnam-allied victory[29][30]
Paraguayan Civil War	1947	Liberal Party Febrerista Revolutionary Concentration Paraguayan Communist Party Supported by:  Soviet Union	Paraguayan Government Military of Paraguay Colorado Party Supported by:  United States  Argentina	Government/Military and Colorado Party victory
Malayan Emergency	1948–1960	Communist forces: Malayan Communist Party Malayan National Liberation Army Supported by:  Soviet Union[36] People's Republic of China[37][38][39]  Indonesia[38][39]  North Vietnam[40][41][42]	Anti-communist forces: Commonwealth of Nations  United Kingdom Federation of Malaya  Southern Rhodesia (until 1953)  Rhodesia and Nyasaland (after 1953) Fiji Australia New Zealand Supported by:  United States  Thailand (Thai–Malay border)	Commonwealth military victory
Korean War	1950–1953[43][44][45][46][47][48]	North Korea[43][44][45][46][47][48]  China[43][44][45][47][48] Supported by:  Bulgaria  Czechoslovakia[49]  Hungary  Poland  Romania[47]  Soviet Union[43][47] Mongolia	South Korea[43][44][45][48]  United Nations[44][45][48]  United States[43][44][45][46][48] Supported by:  Australia[44][45][46]  Belgium[44][45]  Bolivia [45]  Canada[44][45][46]  Colombia[44] Commonwealth of Nations[50] Cuba[45]  Denmark[51]  Ethiopia[44][45]  France[44][45][46]  Greece[44]  India (Medical support)[46]  Israel[52]  Italy[53]  Luxembourg[44]  Netherlands[44]  Taiwan[44]  New Zealand[44][46]  Norway[54]  Philippines[44]  South Africa[44][45]  Spain[55]  Sweden[56]   Switzerland[57]  Thailand[44][45]  Turkey[44][45][46]  United Kingdom[44][46]	Stalemate[43][44][48]
Mau Mau Uprising	1952–1960	Kenya Land and Freedom Army[note 1] Supported by:  Soviet Union	United Kingdom British Kenya Supported by:  United States	British victory
Second Indochina War (Vietnam War)	1955–1975[59][60][61][62][63]	North Vietnam[59][60][61][62][63][64] Viet Cong and PRG[59][60][61][62][63][64] Pathet Lao GRUNK (1970–1975) Khmer Rouge  China[59][62][63][64]  Soviet Union[59][62][63][64]  North Korea[65] Supported by:  Bulgaria[64][66]  Cuba[64][66][67][68]  Czechoslovakia[64][66]  East Germany[64][66]  Hungary[64][66]  Poland[64][66]  Romania[64][66]  Sweden[69][70]	South Vietnam[59][60][61][62][63][64]  United States[59][60][61][62][63][64]  South Korea[59][62][64]  Australia[59][62][64]  New Zealand[59][62]  Laos[64] Kingdom of Cambodia (1967–1970) Khmer Republic (1970–1975)  Thailand[59][62][64]  Philippines[62][64] Supported by:  Brazil[64]  Malaysia[64]  Taiwan[64]	North Vietnamese and Viet Cong/PRG victory[59]
First Taiwan Strait Crisis	1954–1955	People's Republic of China Supported by:  Soviet Union	Republic of China United States	Stalemate
First Sudanese Civil War	1955–1972	United Kingdom (1955–1956)  Egypt (1955–1956) Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1955–1956) Republic of the Sudan (1956–1969) Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1969–1972) Supported by:  Soviet Union[71]	Southern Sudan Liberation Movement Azania Liberation Front (1965–1970) Anyanya (1969–1972) Equatorial Corps (1955–1963) Supported by:  Ethiopia[72]  Uganda[73]  Israel[72][73][74]	Stalemate
Suez Crisis	1956–1957[75]	Egypt[75] Palestinian fedayeen Supported by:  Soviet Union[75]  United States  West Germany  Italy  China	France[75]  Israel[75]  United Kingdom[75]	Territory unchanged. French and UK power in area weakened[75]
Second Taiwan Strait Crisis	1958	People's Republic of China Supported by:  Soviet Union	Republic of China United States	Stalemate
1958 Lebanon crisis	1958	Lebanese Opposition: INM LCP PSP Supported by:  Soviet Union Egypt	Lebanese Government  United States	President Camille Chamoun steps down and Major General Fouad Chehab is elected to succeed him
1959 Tibetan uprising	1959–1962[76]	People's Republic of China	Tibet Chushi Gangdruk Supported by:  Soviet Union[77]  United States[78]  Republic of India Kingdom of Nepal[79]  United Nations[80]  Taiwan	Uprising suppressed
Central American crisis	1960–1996[81]	EGP[81] FAR[81] ORPA PGT[81] URNG[81] FSLN EPS FMLN (CRM) Nicaragua[82] (1979–90) Supported by  Soviet Union[83]  Cuba[84]  Mexico[85]  Libya[86][87]  Romania (before 1989) Zapatista Army of National Liberation  Sweden[88][89]  Costa Rica  Bulgaria[90]  China[91]	Guatemala[81] ESA[81] White Hand[81] and other paramilitary groups[81] Somoza government National Guard Contras (1981–90) Salvadoran military government Supported by  United States[81][92]  Saudi Arabia  Honduras  Chile  Argentina  Panama  Israel[93]  Taiwan[94]
Congo Crisis	1960–1965	1960–62: Stanleyville government 1964–65: Simba and Kwilu rebels Supported by:  Soviet Union  China  Cuba Egypt FLN Algeria Republic of the Congo Tanzania Burundi	1960–63:  Katanga  South Kasai 1964–65: Democratic Republic of the Congo Supported by:  United States  Belgium[97] France  Rhodesia and Nyasaland  South Africa	The Congo established as an independent unitary state under the authoritarian presidency of Mobutu Sese Seko
Portuguese Colonial War	1960–1974[98]	Portugal[98] Supported by:  South Africa  Rhodesia  Malawi[99]  Spain	FLEC[98] FNLA[98] FRELIMO[98] MPLA[98] PAIGC[98] UNITA[98] Supported by:  China[98]  Cuba[98]  France[98]  Soviet Union[98]  United States[98]  Zaire  Algeria  Tanzania  Zambia  Tunisia  Senegal  Guinea Congo-Brazzaville Libya Yugoslavia Bulgaria Liberia Egypt  India  Brazil	End of the Portuguese Empire[66]
First Iraqi–Kurdish War	1961–1970	Republic of Iraq Ba'athist Iraq Supported by: Syria[100]	KDP Supported by: Iran  Israel[101]	Stalemate
Eritrean War of Independence	1961–1974	ELF Supported by: Libya[102][103][104] (until 1977)  Cuba[102][105] (until 1974)  Syria[106][107] Iraq[108][109]  Tunisia[110][111][112]  Saudi Arabia[113][114] Somalia[115]  Sudan[116]	Ethiopian Empire (until 1974) Supported by:  United States (until 1974)	Stalemate
	1974–1991	Derg (1974–1987) PDRE (1987–1991) Supported by:  Cuba[117][118][119][120] (1974–1989)[dubious – discuss]  Soviet Union[117][121][122][123] (1974–1990)  South Yemen[124]	EPLF TPLF Supported by:  China[125][126]  Sudan[116] Libya[102][103][104] (1977–1991)  United States (May 1991)[127]  Somalia[115]  Syria[106][107]	EPLF victory
North Yemen Civil War	1962–1970	Yemen Arab Republic United Arab Republic[128] Supported by:  Soviet Union	Kingdom of Yemen  Saudi Arabia[128] Supported by:  Jordan[129]  United Kingdom[129]  United States	Republican victory
Dhofar Rebellion	1962–1976	DLF (1962–1968) PFLOAG (1968–1974) NDFLOAG (1969–1971) PFLO (1974–1976) Supported by:  China[130]  Soviet Union[130] South Yemen[130]  East Germany	Oman[130] Supported by: Iran[130]  Abu Dhabi[130]  Saudi Arabia[130]  United Kingdom[130]  Jordan[130]  Egypt[130]  Pakistan[130]  UAE[130]  United States	Omani government victory
Sarawak Communist Insurgency	1962–1990	Communist forces: North Kalimantan Communist Party[131] Sarawak People's Guerilla Force (SPGF)[132] North Kalimantan People's Army (NKPA)[132]  Indonesia (1962–65) (troops aid) Other support: Brunei People's Party North Kalimantan National Army (NKNA) Supported by:  China[132]  Soviet Union	Anti-communist forces:  United Kingdom[133] Sarawak (until 1963)  Malaysia  Sarawak (after 1963) Supported by:  Australia  Brunei  New Zealand  United States  Indonesia (after 1965) (Indo-Malay border)	Stalemate
Aden Emergency	1963–1967	NLF FLOSY Supported by Egypt Yemen Arab Republic  Soviet Union	United Kingdom Federation of South Arabia Supported by  United States	NLF victory
Rhodesian Bush War	1964–1979	ZANLA (ZANU) FRELIMO[134] (until 25 June 1975) Mozambique (from 25 June 1975) Supported by:  China[135]  Libya  Tanzania[136] ZIPRA (ZAPU)[137] MK (ANC)[137] Supported by:  Soviet Union[135]  Zambia  Cuba[135]  East Germany[135] FROLIZI	Rhodesia (until 1 June 1979) Zimbabwe Rhodesia (from 1 June 1979) Supported by: South Africa Portugal (until 1974)	Stalemate
Dominican Civil War	1965	Constitutionalists Dominican Revolutionary Party[138] Supported by:  Soviet Union  Cuba	Dominican Republic  United States Inter-American Peace Force  Brazil  Paraguay  Nicaragua  Costa Rica  El Salvador  Honduras[139]	Loyalist victory
Chadian Civil War	1965–1979	FROLINAT GUNT Libya Supported by:  Soviet Union	Chad  France Supported by:  United States	Overthrow and death of François Tombalbaye in 1975 Overthrow of Félix Malloum in 1979 Signing of Lagos Accord and installation of Transitional Government of National Unity
Communist insurgency in Thailand	1965–1983	Communist Party of Thailand Thai United Patriotic Front Pathet Lao[140][141] Khmer Rouge (until 1978)[140] Malayan Communist Party[142] Supported by:  North Vietnam (until 1976)  Vietnam (from 1976)  China (from 1971)  North Korea[141]  Soviet Union	Thailand Royal Thai Armed Forces Royal Thai Police Thai Paramilitaries  Taiwan (until July 1967) Kuomintang 49th Division[143] Chinese Irregular Force (CIF)  Malaysia  United States[140] Supported by:  South Korea[140]	Thai government victory
Bolivian Campaign	1966–1967	Ejército de Liberación Nacional  Cuba Supported by:  Soviet Union	Bolivia  United States CIA	Bolivian government victory
Korean DMZ Conflict (1966–1969)	1966–1969	North Korea Supported by:  Soviet Union  China	South Korea  United States	South Korean–American victory
South African Border War	1966–1990	African nationalist forces: PLAN (SWAPO) SWANU Supported by: Cuba[144] MPLA[145]  Soviet Union[146]  China[147]  Yugoslavia[148][149]  Bulgaria[150][151]  Tanzania[152][153]  Zambia[154]  Libya[155]  Kenya[156]  Algeria[157]  Guyana[158]  Brazil  Mexico	Anti-communist forces:  South Africa South-West Africa Supported by: UNITA[159]  United States  United Kingdom  Portugal (until 1975)	Stalemate
Nigerian Civil War	1967–1970	Nigeria Supported by:  United Kingdom  Soviet Union  United States  Canada  Sudan  Chad  Niger  Syria  Saudi Arabia  Algeria[160] Bulgaria[161]	Biafra Supported by:  South Africa Portugal[162]  France  Spain[163][164]  Tanzania[165][166][167] Gabon Ivory Coast  Zambia  Rhodesia  Haiti  Israel	Nigerian victory
Years of Lead	1968–1982	Far-left terrorist groups: Red Brigades Front Line October 22 Group PAC Continuous Struggle PO-AO Supported by:  Soviet Union (alleged)	Italian Government SISDE (Internal) SISMI (Foreign) Italian Armed Forces Arm of Carabineers Supported by:  United States Far-right terrorist groups: National Vanguard Black Order NAR Third Position Supported by:  United States (alleged)	Far-left and far-right terrorist groups dismantled
Communist insurgency in Malaysia	1968–1989	Communist forces: Malayan Communist Party[142] Malayan National Liberation Army[142] Supported by:  China[37][168]  Soviet Union[168]	Anti-communist forces:  Malaysia[169]  Thailand[170][171] Supported by:  United Kingdom[172]  Australia  New Zealand[172]  United States	Peace agreement reached
Operation Condor	1968–1989	Left-wing governments and opponents to the military juntas in South America. Supported by:  Soviet Union  Cuba  East Germany  Polish People's Republic	Chile  Argentina  Brazil  Bolivia  Paraguay  Uruguay Supported by:  United States  Peru  Ecuador  Colombia  Venezuela
Al-Wadiah War	1969	South Yemen Supported by:  Soviet Union	Saudi Arabia Supported by: United States	Saudi victory
Bangladesh Liberation War	1971	Pakistan Supported by:  United States  China  France  United Kingdom  Turkey  Iran  Jordan	Bangladesh  India Supported by:  Soviet Union	Indian–Bangladeshi victory
Yemenite War of 1972	1972	South Yemen National Democratic Front Supported by:  Soviet Union  Cuba  East Germany  Czechoslovakia  Libya	North Yemen Supported by:  Saudi Arabia  Jordan United States  Republic of China  United Kingdom  West Germany	Cairo Agreement
Angolan Civil War	1974–2002	MPLA SWAPO MK Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC) Supported by:  Soviet Union[173] (until 1991)  Cuba  Tanzania[174] Mozambique[175]  Czechoslovak Socialist Republic[176] (until 1989)  Polish People's Republic (until 1989)  Yugoslavia  People's Republic of Bulgaria[177] (until 1989)  Guyana[158]  Portugal[178]  Romania (until 1989)  India[176]  North Korea  Brazil  Mexico	UNITA FNLA FLEC Supported by:  United States[179]  People's Republic of China[179]  South Africa  Zambia[180]  Morocco[181]  Zaire  Egypt  France  Belgium  Burkina Faso (from 1987)  Israel  United Kingdom  Rhodesia (until 1979)  South Korea	MPLA victory
Ethiopian Civil War	1974–1991	People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Supported by:  Soviet Union[124][117][121][122][123][182][183]  North Korea Libya  South Yemen[124]  Tanzania  East Germany (until 1990)[124][182][183]  Bulgaria  Cuba (1987–1991)[184]	Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front Supported by:  United States  United Kingdom  China  West Germany (until 1990)  Germany (from 1990)  Saudi Arabia  Israel  North Yemen	EPLF/TPLF rebel victory
Lebanese Civil War	1975–1990	LNM (until 1982) Jammoul (from 1982) PLO Supported by:  Iraq  Libya  Algeria Amal Movement Hezbollah (from 1985)  Iran (From 1980, mainly IRGC and Artesh paramilitary units) Supported by:  North Korea Islamic Unification Movement (from 1982)  Syria	LF AFL (until 1977) SLA (from 1976)  Israel (from 1978) Tigers Militia (until 1980) Marada Brigades (left LF in 1978; aligned with Syria)  Lebanon  United Nations UNIFIL (from 1978) Multinational Force in Lebanon (1982–1984)  United States  France Arab Deterrent Force (1976–1987)  Syria (1976, and from 1983) Neutral Parties: Armenian Revolutionary Federation Kurds	Stalemate
Indonesian occupation of East Timor	1975–1999	East Timor (CNRM, later CNRT) FRETILIN (FALINTIL) UDT Supported by:  Portugal  Soviet Union (until 1991) Libya Free Aceh Movement  China	Indonesia Timor Timur Supported by:  United States  Australia  United Kingdom  Canada  Israel[185]	1999 East Timorese crisis East Timor gains independence after an independence referendum votes to become an independent sovereign state Indonesia retains strong influence in East Timor
Shaba I	1977	Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC) Supported by: Angola  Cuba  Soviet Union	Zaire Supported by:  United States[186]  China[187]  Sudan[187]  Morocco  Egypt  France  Belgium	Zairian victory
Ogaden War	1977–1978	Ethiopia Supported by:  Cuba  Soviet Union  South Yemen  North Korea  East Germany	Somalia WSLF Supported by:  China  Egypt Socialist Republic of Romania	Ethiopian victory
Cambodian-Vietnamese War	1977–1991	Vietnam (VPA) KUFNS People's Republic of Kampuchea (KPRAF) (after 10 January 1979) State of Cambodia (CPAF) (1989) Supported by:  Soviet Union  Laos	Democratic Kampuchea (RAK) Supported by:  China Post invasion: CGDK: NADK KPNLF FUNCINPEC FULRO Supported by:  China  United States (non-combat support)  United Kingdom (non-combat support) Spillover conflict:  Thailand (border clashes)	Vietnamese/People's Republic of Kampuchea victory
Mozambican Civil War	1977–1992	FRELIMO Supported by:  Malawi[99]  Zimbabwe (from 1980)  Tanzania  Soviet Union (until 1991)  Bulgaria  Cuba  Brazil	RENAMO Supported by:  Zimbabwe-Rhodesia  South Africa[188]  Malawi[99]  United States  Rhodesia	Stalemate
Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict	1977–1997	Bangladesh Bangladesh Armed Forces Border Guards Bangladesh Bangladesh Police Bangladesh Armed Police	Shanti Bahini Supported by:  India[189][190]	Stalemate
Shaba II	1978	Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FNLC) Supported by Angola  Cuba (alleged)  Soviet Union (alleged)	Zaire Supported by:  France  Belgium  United States	Zairian victory; mutual end of support for other nations' rebel groups
Uganda–Tanzania War	1978–1979	Tanzania UNLA Mozambique[191]	Uganda  Libya PLO[191][192]	Tanzanian victory
NDF Rebellion	1978–1982	NDF Supported by:  South Yemen  Libya  Soviet Union	North Yemen Islamic Front Supported by:  United States  Saudi Arabia  Taiwan	Government victory
Chadian–Libyan War	1978–1987	Libya Islamic Legion[193] Chadian rebels FROLINAT GUNT (1979–86) Supported by:  Soviet Union	Chad FAT (1978–79) FAN (1978–83) FANT (1983–87) GUNT (1986–87)  France  Zaire[194] Supported by:  United States[195]  Egypt[193]  Sudan[193]	Ceasefire Libyan victory (first phase) Chadian-French victory (second phase)
Yemenite War of 1979	1979	South Yemen National Democratic Front Supported by:  Soviet Union  Cuba  East Germany  Czechoslovakia  Libya	North Yemen Supported by:  Saudi Arabia  Jordan United States  Taiwan  Iraq  Egypt	Stalemate
Soviet–Afghan War	1979–1989	Soviet Union Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Supported by:  India[196][197]  East Germany	Sunni Mujahideen: Jamiat-e Islami Shura-e Nazar Gulbuddin faction Maktab al-Khadamat Khalis faction Ittehad i-Islami IRM NLF NIFA Supported by:  Pakistan[198]  United States[199][200][201][202]  United Kingdom[201][203][204]  China[205]  Saudi Arabia[200][201][206][207]  West Germany[208][209]  United Kingdom[209]  Turkey[210]  Egypt[211]  France[209]  Israel[212]  Japan[212] Libya Shia Mujahedeen: Harakat i-Islami Afghan Hezbollah Nasr Party (IVOA) COIRGA Shura Party IRM UOIF Raad Party Supported by:  Iran[198] Small Maoist groups: ALO SAMA AMFFF Supported by:  Sri Lanka  United Arab Emirates  Jordan  Malaysia	Mujahideen victory
Sino-Vietnamese War	1979	Vietnam Supported by:  Soviet Union  Laos	People's Republic of China	Stalemate
Ethiopian–Somali Border War	1982	Ethiopia Somali rebels Supported by:  Cuba[213]  South Yemen[213]  North Korea[213]	Somalia Supported by:  United States[213][214]	Stalemate
Sri Lankan Civil War	1983–2009	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam Supported by:  Libya  India (until 1987)[215][216][217][218]	Sri Lanka  Maldives  India Supported by:  Pakistan  China  Israel	Sri Lankan Government victory
Thai–Laotian Border War	1987–1988	Laos  Vietnam Supported by Soviet Union	Thailand Supported by United States	Stalemate
Afghan Civil War	1989–1992	Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Supported by Soviet Union (until 1991)	Mujahideen Supported by United States  Pakistan  China[219] Saudi Arabia	Afghan mujahideen victory

Modern proxy wars

War	Dates	Combatant 1	Combatant 2	Result
Angolan Civil War	1974–2002	UNITA FNLA FLEC Supported by:  United States[179]  People's Republic of China[179]  Zambia[180]  Morocco[181]  Zaire (until 1997)  Egypt  France  Belgium  Burkina Faso (from 1987)  Israel  United Kingdom  Pakistan  South Korea	MPLA SWAPO MK FNLC Supported by:  Cuba  Tanzania[174]  Yugoslavia (until 1992)  Guyana[158]  Portugal[178]  India[176]  North Korea  Kazakhstan (from 1996)[176]  Slovakia (from 1993)[176]  Brazil  Russia  Kyrgyzstan  Mexico	MPLA victory
Indonesian occupation of East Timor	1975–1999	Indonesia Timor Timur Supported by:  United States  Australia  United Kingdom  Canada[185]	East Timor (CNRM, later CNRT) FRETILIN (FALINTIL) UDT Supported by:  Portugal Libya Free Aceh Movement  Russia  China	1999 East Timorese crisis East Timor gains independence after an independence referendum votes to become an independent sovereign state Indonesia retains strong influence in East Timor
Insurgency in Laos	1975–2008	Laos Pathet Lao Pro-govt. Hmong Pro-govt. Chinese Supported by: Vietnam  North Vietnam (to 1976)  Soviet Union (to 1978)	Hmong insurgents Laotian Hmong Thai Hmong Ethnic Liberation Organization of Laos (1984–2008) United Front for the Liberation of Laos (1980–2008) Royal Lao Democratic Government (1982) Chao Fa (to 1984) Lao National Liberation Front Lao United Independence Front Free Democratic Lao National Salvation Force National Army of Democratic Kampuchea (1979–1983: limited involv.) Supported by: China (PRC) (to 1988) [220] Democratic Kampuchea (to 1979) Khmer Rouge (1980 to 1981) Party of Democratic Kampuchea (1981 to 1990) Thailand (Rightists: early to mid-1980s) (Hmong: to 1990) United States (Hmong: 1990) Neo Hom (support, 1981–2008)[221][222] Royal Lao Government in Exile Various Hmong exiles
Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict	1977–1997	Bangladesh Bangladesh Armed Forces Border Guards Bangladesh Bangladesh Police	Shanti Bahini Supported by:  India[189][190]	Stalemate
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict	1988–2024	Armenia  Nagorno-Karabakh Supported by:  Russia[223][224]  Greece[225]	Azerbaijan Supported by:  Pakistan[226][227]  Kyrgyzstan[228]  Turkey[229][230][231]  Israel[232][233][234]  Ukraine[235]	Azerbaijani victory
Afghan Civil War	1989–1992	Mujahideen Supported by  United States  Pakistan  China  Saudi Arabia	Democratic Republic of Afghanistan Supported by Russia	Afghan mujahideen victory
Transnistria War	1990–1992	Moldova Supported by:  Romania	Transnistria Supported by Russia Ukraine	Russo–Transnistrian victory
Georgian Civil War	1991–1993	Gamsakhurdia's government National Guard of Georgia	State Council Georgian Interior and Defense Ministry forces National Guard of Georgia Mkhedrioni South Ossetian Separatists Abkhaz separatists Confederation of Mountain Peoples of the Caucasus  Russia	Gamsakhurdia government expunged Abkhazian and South Ossetian separatists gain control of most of their claims State Council takes control of Georgia proper Georgia joins the Commonwealth of Independent States
Yugoslav Wars	1991–2001	Slovenia  Bosnia  NATO Supported by:  Turkey[236]  Pakistan  Iran[237]  Saudi Arabia[236]  Croatia Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia Supported by:  Albania National Liberation Army	SFR Yugoslavia (before 1992)  FR Yugoslavia (from 1992)  Republika Srpska AP Western Bosnia Republic of Serbian Krajina Supported by:  Russia[238][239]  Greece[240]  Republic of Macedonia Supported by:  Ukraine[241][242][243](main arms supply)  Bulgaria  FR Yugoslavia	Breakup of Yugoslavia and the formation of independent successor states
Tajikistani Civil War	1992–1997	United Tajik Opposition IRP Democratic reformists Gorno-Badakhshan[244] Jamiat-e Islami Islamic State of Afghanistan Taliban factions2[245] Supported by: al-Qaeda[246] Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRP)  Pakistan  Iran	Tajikistan Supported by:  Russia  Uzbekistan[247]  Kyrgyzstan	Stalemate
Second Afar insurgency	1995–2018	ARDUF Supported by:  Eritrea	RSADO DMLEK EPLF ESF SPDM Supported by:  Ethiopia
First Congo War	1996–1997	Zaire UNITA[248] ALiR Interahamwe Supported by:  France[249]	AFDL Uganda Rwanda[250] Supported by:  United States[251] Burundi[252]  Angola[252] Mai-Mai[250] Bahunde[250] Nande[250] SPLA[250]	Decisive AFDL victory
Nepalese Civil War	1996–2006	Kingdom of Nepal Supported by:  India  United States  European Union	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Supported by:  China  North Korea  India  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan	Comprehensive Peace Accord
Second Republic of the Congo Civil War	1997–1999	Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo (to October 1997) Cocoye Militia Ninja Militia Nsiloulou Militia  Democratic Republic of the Congo[253][254] Supported by: UNITA (alleged)[255]	Armed Forces of the Republic of the Congo (from October 1997) Cobra Militia Rwandan Hutu Militia  Angola  Chad[254] Supported by:  France[256]  Cuba (alleged)[255] Mobutu Sese Seko Loyalists (alleged)[253]	Nguesso loyalist victory
Guinea-Bissau Civil War	1998–1999	Guinea-Bissau  Senegal[257]  Guinea[258] Supported by:  France[259]  Portugal	Military rebels Supported by: MFDC[258]	Ousting of President João Bernardo Vieira
First Ivorian Civil War	2002–2007	France UNOIC	Ivory Coast Young Patriots of Abidjan militia Liberian mercenaries Supported by:  Russia[260]  Bulgaria[261]  Belarus	Stalemate
War in Darfur	2003–2020	SRF[note 2] JEM SLA Abdul Wahid faction Minni Minawi faction Second Revolution faction[262] LJM (signed the Doha Darfur Peace Agreement in 2011)[263] SARC Supported by:  South Sudan[264]  Chad (2005–2010)  Eritrea (until 2008) Libya (until 2011)[265]  United States  Uganda (until 2015)[266]	Government of Sudan Armed Forces Rapid Support Forces Janjaweed Popular Defence Forces[267] Supported by:  China  Iran (until 2016)  Russia
Iraqi insurgency	2011–2014	Iraq  Iraqi Kurdistan Supported by:  Saudi Arabia  United States	Shi'a factions: Special Groups Promised Day Brigades Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Kata'ib Hezbollah Mahdi Army Inactive Badr Brigades Soldiers of Heaven Other militias Supported by:  Iran[268][269]	Stalemate
First Libyan Civil War	2011–2011	Anti-Gaddafi forces Supported by:  Qatar NATO  United States  France  United Kingdom  Italy  Sudan  Canada  Turkey  Netherlands  Spain  United Arab Emirates  Greece  Romania  Norway  Denmark  Portugal  Belgium  Tunisia   Switzerland  Moldova  Sweden  Jordan	Libya Supported by:  Belarus  Algeria  Zimbabwe  Cuba  Venezuela PLO  North Korea  South Africa  Nicaragua  Bolivia  Namibia  Ecuador
Syrian Civil War spillover in Lebanon	2012–2017	Lebanon Lebanese Army Internal Security Forces Supported by:  Australia[270]  Canada[271]  Cyprus[272]  Czech Republic[273]  France[274]  Pakistan  Germany[275]  Italy[276]  Jordan[277]  Netherlands[278]  Saudi Arabia[274]  South Korea[279]  Spain[280]  Turkey[281]  United Kingdom[282][283]  United States[274]	Pro-Syrian government militias: Hezbollah PFLP-GC[284] Amal Movement[285] Syrian Social Nationalist Party[286] DFLP[citation needed] Popular Nasserist Organization[287] As-Sa'iqa[288] Fatah al-Intifada[289] Arab Democratic Party (until 2014)[290] Arab Movement Party[291] Supported by:  Syria[292]  Iran[293]  Russia[294] Other militias: Lebanese Communist Party[295] Fatah[296][297]	Lebanese government and pro-Syrian government victory
Second Libyan Civil War	2014–2020	Libyan National Army Supported by:  Russia[298]  Belarus[299]  Egypt[300][301][302]  Algeria[303]  Greece  United Arab Emirates[300]  France[304]  Saudi Arabia[302][305][306]	Government of National Accord Supported by:  Sudan[307]  Ukraine (alleged)[308]  Russia (alleged)[308]  Turkey[309]  United States[310]  United Kingdom[citation needed]  Qatar[300]	Ceasefire

Ongoing proxy wars

Further information: List of ongoing armed conflicts

War	Dates	Combatant 1	Combatant 2
Chinese Civil War[note 3]	1927–present (de jure)	Republic of China  KMT DPP (since 1986) NRA (until 1947)[15][16] ROCA (since 1947) ROCN Supported by:  Weimar Republic (1929–33)[15]  Nazi Germany (1933–37)[16]  United States (1946–1979, 1989–present)  United Kingdom (1946–1950, 1989–present)  Canada  Australia  India  Republic of Korea  Japan  Thailand  Portugal (until 1979)  Hong Kong (1946–1997) Hong Kong democracy camp  Macau (1946–1975)	People's Republic of China CPC[15][16] PLA (since 1948)[15][16]  Hong Kong (1997–present)  Macau (1999–present)  CSR (1931–1937) Supported by:  Soviet Union (1927–1961)[15][16]  Russia (1991–present)  Pakistan  North Korea
Xinjiang conflict	1931–present	East Turkestan independence movement ETPRP (1969–1989) URFET (1969–1989) ETLO (2000–2003) Supported by: Soviet Union (1969–1989)[311][312] Mongolia (1960–1989)  United States  Republic of China  Turkey  Canada[313][314]	Republic of China (1931–1954) People's Republic of China (1949–present)  Iran[315]  Russia  North Korea
Israeli-Palestinian conflict	1948–present	Palestine PLO (until 2005) Hamas Fatah (until 2005) Supported by:  Egypt (1948–78)  Iraq  Syria  Cuba[316]  Algeria  Soviet Union[317] (until 1991)  Lebanon  Iran  North Korea	Israel  Palestine Palestinian Authority (from 2005) PLO (from 2005) Fatah (from 2005) Supported by:  United States  United Kingdom  France (until 1967)  Germany[318]  Canada[319]  Australia[320]  Egypt (since 1978)[321]
Balochistan conflict	1948–present	Baloch separatist groups BLA BRA BLF UBA LeB BLUF BSO (Azad) Supported by:  India  Soviet Union (until 1988) Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (until 1990)  Iraq (1970s)[322] Sectarian groups Jundallah[323][324] Jaish ul-Adl Jundallah (Pakistan) al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Jhangvi[322] Sipah-e-Sahaba[322]	Pakistan Pakistan Army Inter-Services Intelligence Military Intelligence Frontier Corps Supported by:  China[325]  Iran[326] Imperial Army (until 1979) Artesh (since 1979) IRGC (since 1980)
Internal conflict in Myanmar	1948–present	Myanmar  Burma (until 1989) Tatmadaw Myanmar Police Force Supported by:  India  China[327]  Israel[328] (formerly)[329]  Russia[330]  Philippines  North Korea  Yugoslavia (until 1988)	ABSDF Arakan Army DKBA-5 KNU KNLA KIO KIA MNDAA SSAN SSAS TNLA UWSP UWSA and others Supported by:  United States (1951–1953)  Thailand  China[331] Republic of China (1950–1961)[332]
Papua conflict	1962–present	Indonesia Supported by:  Australia[333][334][335]  Fiji  Papua New Guinea	Free Papua Movement Supported by:  Vanuatu  Solomon Islands  Tonga  Senegal
Insurgency in Northeast India	1963–present	ACF ATTF BKI DHD (until 2013) GNLA HNLC HuM IRF KCP KLNLF KLO KYKL MULTA NDFB NLFT NSCN-IM PLA PREPAK ULFA UNLF ZRA Supported by:  China  Pakistan  Arab League	India  Bhutan  Bangladesh  Burma Supported by:  United States  Soviet Union (1963–1991)  Russia  Iran
Naxalite–Maoist insurgency	1967–present	India CRPF Indian Armed Forces State Armed Police Forces Supported by:  Bangladesh  Bhutan    Nepal  Sri Lanka  Myanmar Militias: (until 2011)[336] Tritiya Prastuti Committee Salwa Judum Sunlight Sena Kuer Sena (until 1990s)[337] Ranvir Sena (until 2000)[338][339] Bhumi Sena (until 1990) Lorik Sena (until 1990)	Naxalites: CPI (Maoist) PLGA Jharkhand Janmukti Parishad[340] People's Liberation Front of India[341] Revolutionary Communist Centre CPIML Liberation (1974–1992) Lal Sena CPIML Janashakti (1992–2013) CPUSI CPIML ND CPIML MM PLA-MP ABNES (until 2002) MCPM KCP TNLA[342] Supported by:  Pakistan[343]  China[344][345]  North Korea[344][345] ULFA[346] NSCN[346] CPN (Maoist) LTTE (until 2009)[346] NPA[347] PBSP[348] CIC (until 1977) CPN (2014)[349] CCP (Maoist) (until 1976)
Civil conflict in the Philippines	1969–present	Communist forces: Communist Party NPA NDF Makabayan MLPP-RHB[350] APP[350] RPA[350] ABB[350] CPLA (until 2011)[350] MNLF[351] MILF (until 2014) MRLO[352] Ampatuan militias[353] Supported by:  Malaysia (to MNLF and MILF)[354][355]  People's Republic of China (1969–1976,[356] allegedly continuing[citation needed])  Libya (1980s–2011)[357][358] (to MNLF and NPA)[359][360][361][362][363]  North Korea[364][365]  Vietnam (1980s)[360]	Anti-communist forces:  Philippines Alsa Masa (1986–?)[366] CAFGU Supported by:  United States[367]
Cabinda War	1975–present	FLEC FLEC-FAC FLEC-Renovada FLEC-N'Zita FLEC-Lubota Uniao Nacional de Libertaçao de Cabinda CCC Supported by:  France[368]  Zaire (until 1997)[369]  Belgium[370] WLFD[370]  China (alleged)	Angola Supported by: UNITA[371]  Cuba  East Germany (until 1989)  Soviet Union (until 1989)[372][373]  Brazil
Civil conflict in Turkey	1976–present	TAK TKP/ML-TİKKO MKP-HKO-PHG Maoist Party Maoist Party Centre THKO Devrimci Yol DHKP-C Supported by:  Soviet Union[374][375]  China[376] ASALA[377] (1970s–1988)  Syria[374][378][379]  Greece[380][381]  Cyprus[374]  Iran[374][382][383] Iraq (until 2003)[384] Libya (until 2011)[385]	Turkey Supported by:  Turkic Council[377]
Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict	1979–present	Saudi Arabia  United Arab Emirates  Bahrain  Jordan  Egypt  Qatar (until 2017)  Yemen (Hadi government)  Kuwait March 14 Alliance  Morocco Iraq (until 1989)  Israel Syria (from 2024) Free Syrian Army Syrian Free Army  Rojava People's Mujahedin of Iran National Council of Iran PDKI Jaish ul-Adl Kurdistan Free Life Party Komalah Ahvaz National Resistance Tahrir al-Sham Al-Nusra Front Palestinian Authority ASLMA Kurdistan Freedom Party Naqshbandi Army Free Iraqi Army Sadrist Movement Lebanese Forces Future Movement Libyan National Army Supported by:  Afghanistan (until 2021)  Greece  Azerbaijan  Somalia  Senegal  Tajikistan  United States  United Kingdom  Turkey (until 2017)  Sudan (from 2015)  Nigeria	Iran  Hezbollah  Syria (until 2024)  Iraq (from 2006)  Yemen (Houthi government)  Libya (until 2011)  Lebanon Hezbollah Al-Hejaz OIRAP Liwa Fatemiyoun  Houthi movement Popular Mobilization Forces Al-Ashtar Brigades Al-Mukhtar Brigades Hezbe Wahdat Hamas Husseiniyoun Muslim Brotherhood Liwa Zainebiyoun Islamic Movement of Nigeria Polisario Front Taliban March 8 Alliance National Defence Forces February 14 Youth Coalition GNA Supported by:  China  Gaza Strip  Russia  North Korea  Sudan (until 2015)  Venezuela  Cuba  Oman (allegedly)  Turkey (from 2017)
Internal conflict in Peru	1980–present	Shining Path MRTA (until 1997) Supported by:  Cuba[386] Libya[386] (until 2011)	Peruvian Armed Forces National Intelligence Service Grupo Colina Rondas Campesinas Supported by:  United States  Soviet Union (until 1991)  Russia  Japan  Colombia
Abkhaz–Georgian conflict	1989–present	Georgia Supported by:  NATO	Abkhazia Supported by:  Russia
Georgian–Ossetian conflict	1989–present	Georgia Supported by:  NATO	South Ossetia Supported by:  Russia
Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir	1989–present	India Indian Army Indian Air Force Jammu and Kashmir Police Central Reserve Police Force  Afghanistan Supported by:  United States  Iran  Russia	Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Hizbul Mujahideen Harkat-ul-Mujahideen Al-Badr JKLF Supported by:  Pakistan[387]  China Taliban[388]  Saudi Arabia[389] al-Qaeda[388]
Allied Democratic Forces insurgency	1995–present	Uganda  DR Congo UNF Intervention Brigade  South Africa  Tanzania  Malawi Supported by:  United States[390]	ADF NALU Tabliq Hutu fighters Supported by: LRA[391]  Sudan[392]
Syrian civil war[393][394]	2011–present	Syrian opposition Supported by:  Saudi Arabia  Qatar[395]  United States[395]  Turkey  Libya  European Union  Australia  Egypt (2011–2013)  France  United Kingdom  Jordan  Italy  Netherlands  Canada  Germany	Syria Supported by:  Armenia[396]  Iran[395]  Russia[397][398][399]  Iraq  Pakistan[400][401]  China[402][403]  North Korea[404][405][406]  Cuba[407]  Venezuela[408][409][410][411]  Algeria[412]  Belarus[413]  Angola[414]  Egypt (from 2015)[415][416]  United Arab Emirates  Rojava Supported by:  United States  France  United Kingdom  Iraqi Kurdistan[417] CJTF-OIR
Yemeni Crisis (part of Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflicts)	2011–present	Yemen (Hadi government) Saudi-led coalition Supported by:  Somalia[418]  United States[419]  Eritrea[420]  United Kingdom[421][422]  France[423][424][425]  Pakistan  Canada[426]  Italy[citation needed]  Turkey[427]  Germany[428][429][430][431]	Yemen (Supreme Political Council) Supported by:  Iran[432]  Iraq  North Korea[433]  Russia[434]  Syria[435]

Notes

1. The name Kenya Land and Freedom Army is sometimes heard in connection with Mau Mau. KLFA is not simply another name for Mau Mau: it was the name that Dedan Kimathi used for a coordinating body which he tried to set up for Mau Mau. It was also the name of another militant group that sprang up briefly in the spring of 1960; the group was broken up during a brief operation from 26 March to 30 April.^[58]
2. Known as the National Redemption Front prior to 2011.
3. Much of the civil war has eased off in 1949–50 with the Battle of Hainan Island took place in 1950, KMT insurgency in Burma and three crises in the Taiwan Strait occurred in 1954, 1958 and 1996. In effect, no peace treaty or armistice agreement is signed.