List of non-international armed conflicts

Since 1949, the term "non-international armed conflict" has been widely used to refer to armed conflict between territorial and/or intervening state forces and non-state armed groups or between non-state armed groups within the same state or country, instead of civil war. The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)'s Arms Unit, Kathleen Lawand, stated "The ICRC generally avoids using the term 'civil war' when communicating with the parties to an armed conflict or publicly, and speaks instead of 'non-international' or 'internal' armed conflicts, as these expressions mirror the terms used in common Article 3 [of the 1949 Geneva Conventions]."

Ongoing non-international armed conflicts

The following non-international armed conflicts are ongoing as of April 2023. Only ongoing conflicts which meet the definition of a non-international armed conflict are listed. See List of ongoing armed conflicts and lists of active separatist movements for lists with a wider scope.

• , Jamaican political conflict, since 1943
• , Myanmar conflict, since 1948 (including the Myanmar civil war (2021–present) since 2021)

• ,
• Insurgency in Northeast India, since 1954
• Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, since 1989
• , Papua conflict, since 1962
• , Katanga insurgency, since 1963
• Allied Democratic Forces insurgency, since 1996
• Ituri conflict, since 1999
• Kivu conflict, since 2004
• , Colombian conflict, since 1964
• , New People's Army rebellion, since 1969
• , Western Sahara conflict, since 1970
• , Maoist insurgency in Turkey, since 1972
• , Cabinda War, since 1975
• , Insurgency in Laos, since 1975
• , Somali Civil War, since 1991

• , Afghan conflict, since 1978
• Islamic State–Taliban conflict, since 2015
• Republican insurgency in Afghanistan, since 2021
• , Internal conflict in Peru, since 1980
• , Casamance conflict, 1982–2014 (main conflict), since 2015 (low-level conflict)
• , Herder–farmer conflicts in Nigeria, since 1998
• Boko Haram insurgency, since 2009
• Nigerian bandit conflict, since 2011
• Insurgency in the Maghreb (2002–present), since 2002
• , Iraqi conflict, since 2003
• Iraqi insurgency (2017–present), since 2017
• , South Thailand insurgency, since 2004
• , Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, since 2004

• , Insurgency in Paraguay, since 2005

• , Mexican drug war, since 2006
• , Sudanese nomadic conflicts, since 2008; Sudanese civil war (2023–present), since 2023

• , War in the Sahel, since 2011
• , Mali War, since 2012

• , Islamist insurgency in Burkina Faso, since 2015

• , Islamist insurgency in Niger, since 2016

• , Central African Republic Civil War, since 2012

• , Yemeni civil war (2014–present), since 2014

• , Anglophone Crisis, since 2017
• , Insurgency in Cabo Delgado, since 2017

• , Islamic State insurgency in the North Caucasus, since 2017
• , Ethiopian civil conflict (2018–present), since 2018

• OLA insurgency, since 2018
• War in Amhara, since 2023
• , Haitian conflict, since 2020
• , Chittagong Hill Tracts conflict, since 2022
• , Ecuadorian conflict (2024–present), since 2024

Past non-international armed conflicts

Ancient and early medieval (before 1000)

This is a list of intrastate armed conflicts. Note that some conflicts lack both an article or citation. Without citation, they have not been guaranteed to have happened.

• The First Intermediate Period of Egypt, Second Intermediate Period of Egypt and Third Intermediate Period of Egypt were periods of political disunity in Ancient Egypt's history, characterized by frequent warfare between dynasties competing for dominance
• The Persian Revolt was a campaign led by Cyrus the Great against Median rule of Persia (552–550 BC)
• Civil war between Artaxerxes II and Cyrus III (c. 401 BC)
• Roman civil wars (a list of numerous civil wars in the late Roman Republic and in the Roman Empire, between 100 BC and AD 400)
• Hasmonean civil war (67–63 BC)
• Sasanian civil war of 589–591
• Sasanian civil war of 628–632
• First Fitna, 656–661, the first Islamic "civil war" between Ali and the Umayyads
• Second Fitna, c. 680/683 – c. 685/692, the second Islamic "civil war" between the Umayyads and Ibn al-Zubayr
• Twenty Years' Anarchy, 695–717, prolonged period of internal instability in the Byzantine Empire
• Civil War between Artabasdos and Constantine V, 741–743
• Third Fitna, 744–752, including the Umayyad civil wars of 744–748 and the Abbasid Revolution
• An Lushan Rebellion, December 16, 755 – February 17, 763
• Fourth Fitna, 809–827, including the Abbasid civil wars and other regional conflicts
• Anarchy of the 12 Warlords, 944–968

Medieval (1000–1600)

• Fitna of al-Andalus, 1009–1031
• Civil war era in Norway, 1130–1240
• Danish Civil Wars, 1131–1157
• The Anarchy, 1135–1153
• Civil war in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem between King Baldwin III and dowager Queen Melisende (1152–1153)
• Pandyan Civil War, 1169–1177
• Revolt of 1173–1174
• First Barons' War, 1215–1217
• Age of the Sturlungs, 1220 – 1262/64
• Second Barons' War, 1264–1267
• Hungarian Civil War, 1264–1265
• Civil War of Livonia between Livonian Order and the city of Riga and the Archbishopric of Riga, 1297–1330.
• Despenser War, 1321–1322
• Invasion of England, 1326. Continuation of the Despenser War.
• Byzantine civil war of 1321–1328
• Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347
• Byzantine civil war of 1352–1357
• Castilian Civil War, 1366–1369
• Byzantine civil war of 1373–1379
• Jingnan campaign, 1399-1402
• Welsh Revolt, 1400–1415
• Ottoman Interregnum, 1402–1413
• Regreg War, 1404 - 1406
• Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War, 1407–1435
• Kashmir Civil War, 1419–1420
• Hussite Wars, 1419–1434
• Great Feudal War in Russia, 1425–1453
• Swedish Civil War (1438–1439)
• Wars of the Roses, 1455–1485
• Catalan Civil War (1462–1472)
• Ōnin War, 1467–1477
• Sengoku period, 1467–1615
• War of the Castilian Succession, 1475–1479
• Popular revolts in late-medieval Europe
• German Peasants' War, 1524–1525
• in Kazakh Khanate, 1522–1538
• Inca Civil War, 1529–1532
• Civil War Era in Vietnam, 1533–1789
• Lê–Mạc Dynasties War, 1533–1677
• Count's Feud, 1534–1536
• French Wars of Religion, 1562–1598
• Marian civil war, 1568–1573
• War against Sigismund, 1598–1599

Early modern (1600–1800)

• Trịnh–Nguyễn Lords War, 1627–1772; 1774–1775
• Tây SÆ¡n wars, 1771–1802
• Zebrzydowski rebellion, 1606–1609
• Shimabara Rebellion, 1637–1638
• Wars of the Three Kingdoms, 1639–1651 involved a number of civil wars:
• Irish Confederate Wars, some parts of which were a civil war.
• Scotland in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, to some extent a civil war, 1644–1652
• English Civil War, 1642–1651
• First English Civil War, 1642–1646
• Second English Civil War, 1648–1649
• Third English Civil War, 1650–1651
• Acadian Civil War, 1640–1645
• The Fronde, 1648–1653
• The Ruin, 1659–1686
• Brunei Civil War, 1660s—1673
• Lubomirski's rebellion, 1665–1666
• Kongo Civil War, 1665–1709
• Monmouth Rebellion, May–July 1685
• Glorious Revolution, 1688–1689
• War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714
• Javanese Wars of Succession, 1703 - 1755
• Choctaw Civil War, 1747–1750
• Pugachev's Rebellion, 1773–1775
• American Revolutionary War 1775–83 - The American Revolution started as a civil war within the British Empire. It became a larger international war in 1778 once France joined.
• Yoruba Wars, 1789 - 1839
• Chouannerie, 1792–1800; between Royalist and Republican forces, part of the French Revolutionary Wars
• War in the Vendée, 1793–1804; between Royalist and Republican forces, part of the French Revolutionary Wars

Modern (1800–1945)

• Padri War, 1803–1837
• Musket Wars, 1806–1845
• Gutiérrez–Magee Expedition, 1812–1813
• Argentine Civil Wars, 1814–1880
• Ndwandwe–Zulu War, 1817–1819
• Long Expedition, 1819, 1821
• Greek Civil Wars, 1823–1825
• Ochomogo War, 1823
• Fredonian Rebellion, 1826–1827
• Liberal Wars, in Portugal, 1828–1834
• Chilean Civil War, 1829–1830
• Revolutions of 1830; numerous European countries, 1830
• Egyptian–Ottoman War (1831–1833)
• Carlist Wars, 1833–1839, 1846–1849, and 1872–1876
• Texas Revolution 1835–1836
• Ragamuffin War, 1835–1845
• League War, 1835
• Chimayó Rebellion, 1837
• Córdova Rebellion, 1838
• Uruguayan Civil War, 1839–1851
• War of the Supremes, 1839–1842
• Rio Grande Rebellion, 1840
• Yucatán Rebellion, 1841–1848
• The New Zealand Wars, 1845 - 1872
• Bear Flag Revolt, 1846
• Patuleia War, Portugal, 1846–1847
• Sonderbund War, November 1847
• Revolutions of 1848; numerous European countries, 1848–1849
• Revolution of 1851
• Taiping Rebellion, 1850–1864
• Bleeding Kansas, 1854–1858
• Indian Rebellion of 1857
• Utah War, 1857–1858
• Bendahara War, 1857–1863
• War of Reform, 1857–1861
• Banjarmasin War, 1859–1863
• Federal War, 1859–1863
• Larut Wars, 1861–1874
• American Civil War, 1861–1865
• Afghan Civil War, 1863–1869
• Austro-Prussian War, 1866
• Klang War; also known as Selangor Civil War, 1867–1874
• Boshin War, 1868–1869
• Satsuma Rebellion, 1877
• Jementah Civil War, 1878
• Afghan Civil War, 1880–1881
• The North-West Rebellion, 1885
• Revolution of the Park, 1890
• Chilean Civil War, 1891
• Argentine Revolution of 1893, 1893
• War of Canudos, 1896–1897
• Federal Revolution, 1898
• Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901
• Philippine–American War, 1899–1902
• Moro Rebellion, 1899–1913
• Thousand Days' War, 1899–1902
• Liberating Revolution (Venezuela), 1901–1903
• Argentine Revolution of 1905, 1905
• Russian Revolution of 1905, 1905–1907
• Persian Constitutional Revolution, 1905–1911, Civil War considered to begin after 1908
• Mexican Revolution, 1910–1920
• Paraguayan Civil War, 1911–1912
• War of 1912, 1912
• Warlord Era; period of civil wars between regional, provincial, and private armies in China, 1912–1928
• First Caco War, 1915
• Second Caco War, 1918–1920
• Russian Civil War, 1917–1923
• Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, 1918–2003
• Finnish Civil War, 1918
• Ukrainian–Soviet War, 1917–1921
• German Revolution, 1918–1919
• Revolts during the Turkish War of Independence, includes conflict between the Imperial Ottoman Government and the Turkish National Movement, 1919–1922
• First Honduran Civil War, 1919
• Irish Civil War, 1922–1923
• Paraguayan Civil War, 1922–1923
• Second Honduran Civil War, 1924
• Nicaraguan Civil War, 1926–1927
• Cristero War, 1926–1929
• Chinese Civil War, 1927–1937, 1945–1949 (de facto)
• Afghan Civil War, 1928–1929
• Constitutionalist Revolution, 1932
• Austrian Civil War, February 1934
• Arab revolt in Palestine, 1936–1939
• Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939
• Ukrainian Insurgent Army insurgency, 1943–1956
• Italian Civil War during WWII 1943–1945
• Guerrilla war in the Baltic states, 1944–1956

Since 1945

See also

• List of English civil wars
• List of coups and coup attempts
• List of hostage crises
• List of ongoing armed conflicts
• List of revolutions and rebellions
• List of Roman civil wars and revolts
• List of terrorist incidents
• List of wars by death toll
• List of wars of independence
• Exclusive mandate
• Frozen conflict

Notes

References

Further reading

• Arnold, Guy. Historical dictionary of civil wars in Africa (1999) online
• Collier, Paul, and Nicholas Sambanis, eds. Understanding Civil War: Europe, Central Asia, and other regions (World Bank Publications, 2005) online.
• Davis, Morris, ed. Civil wars and the politics of international relief: Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean (1975) online
• Dixon, Jeffrey S., and Meredith Reid Sarkees. A Guide to Intra-state Wars: An Examination of Civil, Regional, and Intercommunal Wars, 1816–2014 (CQ Press, 2015). online
• Fearon, James. "Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer than Others?" Journal of Peace Research (2004) 41, 3:275–302.
• Kalyvas, Stathis N. The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge University Press, 2006).
• Kohn, George Childs. Dictionary of Wars (3rd ed. Facts on File, 2007) online
• Krause, Volker, and Susumu Suzuki. "Causes of Civil War in Asia and Sub‐Saharan Africa: A Comparison." Social Science Quarterly 86.1 (2005): 160–177. online
• Mason, T. David, and Patrick J. Fett. "How civil wars end: A rational choice approach." Journal of conflict resolution 40.4 (1996): 546–568.
• Miller, John. A brief history of the English Civil Wars (2009) online
• Montalvo, J. G., & Reynal-Querol, M. "Ethnic polarization, potential conflict, and civil wars" American Economic Review (2005) 95(3), 796–816.
• Phillips, Charles, and Alan Axelrod, eds. Encyclopedia of Wars (3 vol, Facts on File, 2004), includes many civil wars.
• Sambanis, Nicholas. "Do Ethnic and Nonethnic Civil Wars Have the Same Causes? A Theoretical and Empirical Inquiry" Journal of Conflict Resolution (2001). 45(3), 259–282.
• Sambanis, Nicholas. "What is Civil War? Conceptual and Empirical Complexities of an Operational Definition" Journal of Conflict Resolution (2004). 48(6), 814–858.
• Stapleton, Timothy J., ed. Modern African Conflicts: An Encyclopedia of Civil Wars, Revolutions, and Terrorism (ABC-CLIO, 2022).
• Sundar, Aparna, and Nandini Sundar, eds. Civil wars in South Asia: State, sovereignty, development (SAGE Publications India, 2014) online.