This is a list of active rebel groups around the world. 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.
Rebel groups by state
Rebel groups are listed by the states within which they operate.
| Within state | Rebel group | Subgroups / Affiliates | Conflict | Year Established | Leader | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multinational: Democratic Republic of the Congo Uganda | Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) | None |
| 1996 | Musa Baluku | |
| Multinational: Algeria Bangladesh Burkina Faso Chad Egypt Indonesia Iraq Israel Ivory Coast Kenya Libya Mali Niger Nigeria Pakistan Somalia Tunisia Yemen | Al-Qaeda |
|
| 1988 | Saif al-Adel | |
| Multinational: Afghanistan Azerbaijan Algeria Bangladesh Burkina Faso Cameroon Chad Democratic Republic of the Congo Egypt India Iraq Iran Ivory Coast Libya Mozambique Mali Niger Nigeria Pakistan Philippines Russia Saudi Arabia Somalia Syria Thailand Tunisia Turkey Yemen | Islamic State |
|
| 1999 | Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi | |
| Multinational: Central African Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo South Sudan Uganda | Lord's Resistance Army | None |
| 1987 | Joseph Kony | |
| Afghanistan | Afghanistan Freedom Front | None | Afghanistan conflict | 2022 | ||
| National Resistance Front of Afghanistan | None | 2021 | Ahmad Massoud | |||
| Angola | Republic of Cabinda | FLEC | Cabinda War | 1975 | António Bento Bembe | |
| Burkina Faso | Ansar ul Islam | None | Insurgency in the Maghreb | 2016 | Abdoul Salam Dicko | |
| Cameroon | Ambazonia | List of Ambazonian militant groups | Anglophone Crisis | 2017 | Samuel Ikome Sako | |
| Central African Republic | Coalition of Patriots for Change |
| Central African Republic Civil War | 2020 | François Bozizé (alleged) | |
| Party of the Rally of the Central African Nation | None | 2019 | Nourd Gregaza | |||
| Chile | Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco | Lafkenche Mapuche Resistance | Mapuche conflict | 1998 | Héctor Llaitul | |
| Weichán Auka Mapu | None | 2011 | Collective leadership | |||
| China | East Turkestan Islamic Movement | None | Xinjiang conflict | 1988 | Abdullah Mansour | |
| Colombia | Autodefensas Gaitanistas de Colombia | None | 2001 | Dario Antonio Úsuga | ||
| National Liberation Army (ELN) | None | 1964 | Antonio Garcia | |||
| Popular Liberation Army (EPL) | None | 1967 | ||||
| FARC dissidents | None | 2016 | Gentil "Cabuyo" Duarte | |||
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) | None |
| 1986 | Ne Muanda Nsemi | |
| CODECO | None | 1970s | ||||
| Coordination for a Referendum on Self-determination for Katanga (CORAK) | None | |||||
| Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) | None | 2000 | ||||
| Kamwina Nsapu militia | None | |||||
| Mai-Mai | None | 1960s | ||||
| Mai Mai Kata Katanga | None | 2011 | ||||
| Mai Mai Gédéon | None | |||||
| Mai Mai Sheka | None | |||||
| Mai-Mai Simba | None | |||||
| Mai Mai Yakutumba | None | |||||
| National Coalition of the People for the Sovereignty of Congo | None | 2017 | William Yakutumba | |||
| Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI) | None | 2005 | Peter Karim Udaga | |||
| Nyatura | None | |||||
| Patriotic Resistance Front of Ituri (FRPI) | None | 2002 | Cobra Matata | |||
| Popular Front for Justice in the Congo (FPJC) | None | 2008 | David Mbadu | |||
| Progressive Katanga Congress (CPK) | None | |||||
| Raia Mutomboki | None | 2005 | Isaac Chirambiza | |||
| RUD-Urunana | None | |||||
| Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) | None | 2001 | Bosco Ntaganda | |||
| March 23 Movement (M23) | None | 2012 | Bertrand Bisimwa | |||
| Egypt | Hasm Movement | None | Insurgency in Egypt | 2015 | ||
| Ethiopia | Fano |
| War in Amhara | 2018 | ||
| Oromo Liberation Army | Oromo conflict | 2020 | Kumsa Diriba | |||
| Tigray People's Liberation Front | Tigray Defense Forces | Tigray War | 1975 | Debretsion Gebremichael | ||
| France | Comité Régional d'Action Viticole (CRAV) | None | 1975 | |||
| Greece | Black Star | None | ||||
| Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei | None | 2008 | ||||
| India | Hizbul Mujahideen | Dukhtaran-e-Milat | Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir | 1989 | Sayeed Salahudeen | |
| Jaish-e-Mohammed | • Lashkar-e-Mustafa • Kashmir Tigers | 2000 | Masood Azhar | |||
| Lashkar-e-Taiba | The Resistance Front | 1986 | Hafiz Muhammad Saeed | |||
| United Jihad Council |
| 1994 | ||||
| National Socialist Council of Nagaland | None | Insurgency in Northeast India | 1980 | Thuingaleng Muivah | ||
| United Liberation Front of Asom | None | 1979 | ||||
| Communist Party of India (Maoist) | None | Naxalite–Maoist insurgency | 2004 | Nambala Keshava Rao | ||
| Maoist Communist Party of Manipur | None | 2011 | ||||
| International Sikh Youth Federation | None | 1987 | Lakhbir Singh Rode | |||
| Khalistan Zindabad Force | None | 1988 | Ranjit Singh Neeta | |||
| Students' Islamic Movement of India | None | 1977 | ||||
| Indonesia | Free Papua Movement | None | Papua conflict | 1963 | Mathias Wenda | |
| Jamaah Ansharusy Syariah (JAS) | None | |||||
| South Moluccas | None | 1950 | ||||
| Iran | Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan | None | Western Iran clashes | 1945 | Mustafa Hijri | |
| Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan | None | 2000 | Abdullah Mohtadi | |||
| Kurdistan Freedom Party | None | 1991 | Hussein Yazdanpanah | |||
| Kurdistan Free Life Party | None |
| 2004 | Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi | ||
| Jaysh al-Adl | None | Insurgency in Balochistan | 2012 | Salahuddin Farooqui | ||
| Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz | None | Khuzestan conflict | 2005 | Habib Jabor / Saddam Hattem | ||
| Communist Party of Iran (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist) | None | 2001 | ||||
| People's Mujahedin of Iran | None | 1965 | Maryam Rajavi | |||
| Iraq | Army of the Men of the Naqshbandi Order | None | Insurgency in Iraq | 2006 | Salah Al-Mukhtar | |
| Ireland | Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) | None | Dissident Irish republican campaign | 1994 | Continuity Army Council | |
| New Irish Republican Army | None | 2012 | Army Council | |||
| Italy | Informal Anarchist Federation | None | 2003 | |||
| Libya | Green Resistance | None | Libyan Crisis (2011–present) | 2014 | ||
| Rafallah al-Sahati Brigade | None | |||||
| Toubou Front for the Salvation of Libya | None | 2007 | Issa Abdel Majid Mansur | |||
| Zintan Brigades | None | 2011 | Kalifah Shahub | |||
| Mali | Ansar al-Sharia | None | Mali War | 2012 | ||
| National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad | None | 2011 | Bilal Ag Acherif | |||
| Mexico | Popular Revolutionary Army | None | 1996 | Edmundo Reyes | ||
| Zapatista Army of National Liberation | None | Chiapas conflict | 1983 | |||
| Mozambique | Al-Shabaab | None | Insurgency in Cabo Delgado | 2015 | ||
| Myanmar | All Burma Students' Democratic Front (ABSDF) | None | Internal conflict in Myanmar | 1988 | Than Khae | |
| DKBA-5 | None | 2010 | Saw Mo Shay | |||
| Shan State Army – South (SSA-S) | None | 1996 | Yawd Serk | |||
| United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) |
| 2011 | Nai Hong Sar | |||
| United Wa State Army | None | 1989 | Bao Youxiang | |||
| Nigeria | Indigenous People of Biafra | Eastern Security Network | Insurgency in Southeastern Nigeria | 2012 | Nnamdi Kanu | |
| Adaka Biafra Marine Commandos | None | Conflict in the Niger Delta | ||||
| Asawana Deadly Force of Niger Delta (ADFND) | None | |||||
| Biafra Avengers | None | |||||
| Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force | None | |||||
| Joint Revolutionary Council of the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force (JNDLF) | None | |||||
| Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta | None | 2004 | Henry Okah | |||
| Niger Delta Avengers | None | 2016 | ||||
| Niger Delta People's Volunteer Force | None | 2004 | ||||
| Niger Delta Red Squad | None | |||||
| Red Egbesu Water Lions | None | |||||
| Red Scorpion | None | |||||
| Utorogun Liberation Movement (ULM) | None | |||||
| Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta | None | |||||
| Ansaru | None | Islamist insurgency in Nigeria | 2012 | |||
| Boko Haram | None | 2002 | Abu Umaimata | |||
| Lakurawa | None | 2016 | Ameer Habib Tajje | |||
| Fulani herdsmen | None | Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria | 1999 | |||
| Pakistan | Baloch Republican Army | None | Insurgency in Balochistan | 2007 | Brahumdagh Bugti | |
| Balochistan Liberation Army | None | 2000 | Hyrbyair Marri | |||
| Jaish ul-Adl | None | 2012 | Salahuddin Farooqui | |||
| Tehrik-i-Taliban |
| Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | 2007 | Noor Wali Mehsud | ||
| Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan | None | 2023 | Maulana Abdullah Yaghistani | |||
| Palestine | Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades | None | 2000 | |||
| Army of Islam | None | 2006 | Mumtaz Dughmush | |||
| Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine | National Resistance Brigades | 1968 | Nayef Hawatmeh | |||
| Hamas | Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades | 1987 | Khaled Mashal | |||
| Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine | Al-Quds Brigades | 1987 | Ziyad al-Nakhalah / Abd Al Aziz Awda | |||
| Lions' Den | None | 2022 | ||||
| Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine | Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades | 1967 | Ahmad Sa'adat | |||
| Popular Resistance Committees | Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades | 2000 | Ayman al-Shashniya | |||
| Paraguay | Armed Peasant Association (ACA) | None | Insurgency in Paraguay | 2014 | ||
| Army of Marshal López (Ejército del Mariscal López, EML) | None | |||||
| Paraguayan People's Army (EPP) | None | 2006 | Osvaldo Villalba | |||
| Peru | Militarized Communist Party of Peru | None | Internal conflict in Peru | 1992 | Comrade José | |
| Shining Path | None | 1960s | Abimael Guzmán | |||
| Philippines | Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters | None | Civil conflict in the Philippines | 2008 | Esmail Abdulmalik | |
| Communist Party of the Philippines | New People's Army | 1968 | ||||
| Senegal | Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance | None | Casamance conflict | 1982 | ||
| South Sudan | Nuer White Army | None | Ethnic violence in South Sudan | 1991 | Bordoang Leah | |
| South Sudan Democratic Movement | None | 2010 | John Uliny | |||
| Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition | None | 2013 | Riek Machar | |||
| Sudan | Sudanese Awakening Revolutionary Council | None | War in Darfur | 2014 | Musa Hilal | |
| Janjaweed | None | Sudanese civil war (2023) | 1987 | |||
| Rapid Support Forces | None | 2013 | Hemedti | |||
| Sudan Liberation Movement (al-Nur) | None | 2006 | Abdul Wahid al-Nur | |||
| Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (al-Hilu) | None | 2017 | Abdelaziz al-Hilu | |||
| Tamazuj | None | |||||
| Syria | Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria |
| Syrian Civil War | 2013 | Îlham Ehmed / Mansur Selum | |
| Coastal Shield Brigade | None | 2025 | Miqdad Fatiha | |||
| Guardians of Truth Battalions | None | 2025 | ||||
| Military Council for the Liberation of Syria | None | 2025 | Ghiath Suleiman Dalla | |||
| So Be Steadfast Operations Room |
| 2020 | ||||
| Syrian Popular Resistance | None | 2024 | ||||
| Islamic Resistance Front in Syria | None | 2024 | ||||
| Ya Ali Popular Formations | None | 2025 | ||||
| Thailand | Barisan Revolusi Nasional | None | South Thailand insurgency | 1963 | ||
| Gerakan Mujahidin Islam Patani | None | 1995 | Nasoree Saesang | |||
| Islamic Liberation Front of Patani | None | 1947 | Tengku Mahmood Mahyideen / Tengku Abdul Jalal | |||
| Patani United Liberation Organisation | None | 1968 | ||||
| Runda Kumpulan Kecil | None | 2000 | Rorhing Ahsong | |||
| Turkey | Islamic Party of Kurdistan | None | Kurdish–Turkish conflict | 1979 | Muhammad Salih Mustafa | |
| Kurdistan Communities Union | None | 2005 | Abdullah Öcalan | |||
| Kurdistan Freedom Hawks | None | 2004 | ||||
| Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist–Leninist (Maoist Party Centre) | None | Maoist insurgency in Turkey | 1987 | |||
| Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front | None | 1970 | ||||
| Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement |
|
| 2016 | |||
| Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front | None |
| 1994 | |||
| Turkish Islamic Jihad | None | |||||
| Uganda | Uganda Coalition for Change (UCFC) | None | 2021 | |||
| United Kingdom | Arm na Poblachta | None | Dissident Irish republican campaign | 2017 | ||
| Continuity Irish Republican Army (CIRA) | None | 1994 | Continuity Army Council | |||
| New Irish Republican Army | None | 2012 | Army Council | |||
| Real Ulster Freedom Fighters | None | 2007 | ||||
| Yemen | Houthi movement | Supreme Political Council |
| 1994 | Abdul-Malik Badreddin al-Houthi | |
| Southern Movement | Southern Transitional Council | 2007 | Aidarus al-Zoubaidi |
Groups that control territory
Groups that "control territory" are defined as any group that hold any populated or inhabited town, city, village, 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.
See also
- List of rebel groups that control territory
- List of guerrilla movements
- List of designated terrorist organizations
- List of ongoing military conflicts
- Lists of active separatist movements
- Violent non-state actor
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