Page "Sudanese Armed Forces" Paragraph 5

The Equatoria Corps mutinied at Torit on 18 August 1955, just before independence, prompting the formation of the Anyanya guerilla movement and the First Sudanese Civil War.

A company of the Equatoria Corps had been ordered to make ready to move to the north, but instead of obeying, the troops mutinied, along with other Southern soldiers across the South in Juba, Yei, Yombo, and Maridi.

" At independence in 1956, Sudan's 5, 000-man army was regarded as a highly trained, competent, and apolitical force, but its character changed in succeeding years.

To deal with the southern insurgency, the army expanded steadily to 12, 000 personnel in 1959 and it leveled off at about 50, 000 in 1972.

After independence, the military-particularly the educated officer corps-lost much of its former apolitical attitude ; soldiers associated themselves with parties and movements across the political spectrum.

" On November 17, 1958, the army's two senior generals, Major General Ibrahim Abboud, the armed forces commander, and Ahmad Abd al Wahab, seized power in a military coup.

Abboud was forced to step down in 1964.