The Anglo-Egyptian Darfur Expedition of 1916 is a military operation by British Empire and the Sultanate of Egypt, launched as a preemptive invasion of the Sultanate of Darfur.
The sultan of Darfur Ali Dinar had been reinstated by the British after their victory in the Mahdist War but during the First World War he has grown restive, refusing his customary tribute to the Sudanese government and showing partiality to the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
Sirdar Reginald Wingate now organizes a force of around two thousand men; under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Philip James Vandeleur Kelly, the force enters Darfur in March 1916 and decisively defeats the Fur Army at Beringia and occupies the capital El Fasher in May.
Ali Dinar has already fled to the mountains and his attempts to negotiate a surrender are eventually broken off by the British.
His location becoming known, a small force is sent after him and the sultan is killed in action in November 1916.
Subsequently, Darfur is fully annexed to the British administration of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan and remains part of Sudan upon its independence.
