On 6 जून 2011 armed conflict broke out between the forces of Northern and Southern Sudan, ahead of the scheduled independence of the South on 9 July. This followed an agreement for both sides to withdraw from Abyei.

By late June, several international interlocutors including the United Nations advanced a proposal to base 4,200 Ethiopian soldiers in Abyei to serve as peacekeepers.

Al-Zubayr's trading empire
Rebellions
South Kordofan conflict
Independence referendum