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  Somalia  Yemen	Al-Qaeda	Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso Mali War Somali Civil War Yemeni Civil War	2006	Parts of Burkina Faso[1] Parts of central and northern Mali[2] Large parts of southern and central Somalia[3] Small parts of Abyan Governorate[4]		TBD	Tinzaouaten (Mali)[5] Jilib (Somalia)[6]
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	2021	Bakassi Peninsula		Princewill Chimezie Richards, Henry Edet	Bakassi
Cameroon	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 province[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
	National Unity Government		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
	Karenni IEC		2021	Parts of Kayah State	Karenni militant group	Khun Oo Reh
	Chinland		2021	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)
	United League of Arakan		2009	Parts of Rakhine State	Arkanese militant group	Twan Mrat Naing
	Wa State		1989	Parts of northern and southern Shan State	De facto independent state	Bao Youxiang
	Shan State Progress Party		1971	Parts of central Shan State	Shan militant group
	Restoration Council for Shan State		1996	Parts of southern Shan State	Shan militant group	Yawd Serk
	Pa-O National Liberation Organization		2024	Parts of southern Shan State	Pa-O militant group (Eastern)	Khun Thurein Khun Kyaw Htin
	Pa-O National Organisation		1949	Parts of southern Shan State	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
	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	Maghaweir al-Thowra	Syrian civil war	2016	Most of Southern Syria, parts of Damascus[36][37]	Opposed to the former Assad regime and aligned with the United States		Al-Tanf[37]
	Rojava		2012	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	Qamishli
	Syrian National Army		2017	Border areas of northern Syria[38]	Opposed to the former Assad regime, allied to the Syrian interim government, opposed to the AANES, and aligned with Turkey	Anas al-Abdah	Azaz[39]
Yemen	Southern Movement	Yemeni civil war	2017	Some of the territory in South Yemen[40][41][42]	Maintains a tenuous peace with the Yemeni government	Aidarus al-Zoubaidi	Aden
	Houthi movement		2004	Most of former North Yemen, including Sana'a, and parts of South Yemen in what has been referred to as Houthi Yemen[43]	Controls the Supreme Political Council,[44] 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
• Quasi-state