Janjaweed
The Janjaweed (Arabic: جنجويد, translit. Janjawīd; also transliterated Janjawid) are a terrorist militia group that primarily operates in the Darfur region of Sudan, as well as parts of Eastern Chad, in Africa. They are the group that is primarily responsible for the War in Darfur, committing multiple atrocities of murder, rape, torture, and destruction.
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In English, the Janjaweed's name means Devils on Horseback.
Though the militia has existed since approximately 1988, they didn't come to prominence until early 2003 (the official beginning of the Darfur conflict) when rebel groups began accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arabs in Darfur. The government then began funding and arming the Janjaweed and directing them to begin a campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the region that has been raging ever since.
Though the Sudanese government has repeatedly denied that they are involved with the Janjaweed, it has been confirmed that multiple high-ranking Sudanese government officials are members of the militia's leadership - particularly Musa Hilal, the chief advisor of the Sudanese Ministry of Federal Affairs - who appears to serve as the group's overall field commander. Also, an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) has confirmed that the Janjaweed's activities are overseen by the President of Sudan himself, Omar al-Bashir, which has lead the ICC to issue a warrant for his arrest on multiple counts of war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, though al-Bashir has also vehemently denied this, and because Sudan does not formally recognize the ICC, has allowed him to evade the arrest warrant and stay in power.
It has been estimated that the Janjaweed are responsible for the deaths of close to 200,000-400,000 civilians in Darfur (however, the current total is likely much higher as this last estimate was made in October 2007.)