The Desert Banshees were a gang of swoopers present on Tatooine during the Galactic Civil War. They were wiped out by the Valarian Syndicate in 1 ABY.
The Desert Banshees were led by the female Zabrak Kilth Saanu. After the Battle of Yavin, the Banshees proposed to join Jabba the Hutt's criminal organization. The swoopers were thus assigned to various missions under the supervision of Arrud Barsoomu, Jabba's right hand enforcer in Mos Eisley, so the crime lord could evaluate whether they were worthy of joining his organization.
In 1 ABY, the Desert Banshees were tasked with escorting the spice dealer Soobu Javeedo while conducting his business in the territory of Lady Valarian, the leader of the Valarian Syndicate and main rival of Jabba. Javeedo and two swoopers were soon ambushed and killed by Valarian henchman. Lady Valarian therefore discovered the ambition of the Banshees to join Jabba's organization and decided to eliminate them before. A group of spacers loyal to Valarian then attacked Kilth Saanu and four of his thugs near Mos Eisley and killed them all in the ensuring firefight. After the death of their leader, the rest of the Desert Banshees scattered.
The Desert Banshees appeared in the 2003 video game Star Wars Galaxies, a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game developed by Sony Online Entertainment and published by LucasArts, prior to its closure on December 15, 2011. The Desert Banshees were present in the original release of the game, being part of Lady Valarian's Quest Series.
With the release of the "Publish 23" on August 31, 2005, Lady Valarian's Quest Series was deactivated and the Desert Banshees were consequently removed from the game.