In December 1991, a Sudan People's Liberation Army force that included Darfuri Daud Bolad entered Darfur in the hopes of spreading the southern rebellion to the West. Before Bolad's force could reach the Marrah Mountains they were attacked by a combined force of regular army and Beni Halba militia mounted on horses. Dozens of Fur villages that had not resisted the SPLA force were burned in reprisal.