Following the outbreak of the South Sudanese Civil War between the followers of President Salva Kiir Mayardit and Vice President Riek Machar's SPLM-IO rebels in late 2013, Bahr el Ghazal had remained mostly peaceful. The area had served as stronghold of the pro-Kiir Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) during the Second Sudanese Civil War, while its population mostly consisted of Dinka people who generally supported the government. Machar's forces consequently had little political influence in Bahr el Ghazal. A local Fertit militia which had waged an insurgency against the government since 2012 allied with the SPLM-IO, but its actual military strength was negligible.