The first known conflict in Africa is traced to Jebel Sahaba, a prehistoric site in the Nile Valley (present-day Sudan), dating back about 13,000–14,000 years ago.

Archaeologists discovered a cemetery where many skeletons showed embedded stone weapons, fractures, and repeated injuries, indicating organized and sustained violence, not a single incident. This suggests early group-against-group conflict, likely over scarce resources during harsh climate changes at the end of the Ice Age.

Jebel Sahaba is widely regarded as the earliest archaeological evidence of warfare or chronic conflict anywhere in the world, offering insight into how competition and survival pressures shaped early human societies.