Allied Democratic Forces (ADF)

in-command of the movement, Gilbert Bwira, and other senior figures, announced the removal of Guidon Shimiray, the group’s leader, which led to a split within this group. This event had many consequences. Clashes and abuses related to this conflict caused the death of 15 civilians in Walikale territory in a single month, which is unprecedented in this territory since the Kivu Security Tracker (KST) started collecting such data in June 2017.

The consequences of this split were also felt in the balance of power in Masisi, Rutshuru and Lubero territories. In Lubero territory, the new configuration called Mazembe (an ally of the NDC-R) weakened the Union des patriotes pour la défense des innocents (UPDI). Its leader since 2016, Kitete Bushu, was killed on July 16 [2020].⁸⁷

With regards to NDC’s founder, the U.S. Department of State’s report noted:

On November 23 [2020], a military court convicted Nduma Defense of Congo (NDC) founder Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka for war crimes, mass rape, recruitment of child soldiers, murder, and multiple other crimes. Sheka surrendered to MONUSCO in 2017, and his trial started in 2018. While NGO representatives commended the high quality of evidence presented at the trial, they also raised concerns regarding its slow pace, witness intimidation, and the lack of appeals process under the law for war crimes trials.⁸⁸

These links appear to have progressed such that, in April of 2019, the Islamic State claimed its first attack in the DRC under the “Central Africa Province” moniker. In its locally produced media, the group has also referred to itself as the Islamic State.

The group’s leader, Musa Baluku, has also contended that the ADF name is no longer used.

Baluku said in a speech late last year that “there is no ADF anymore…ADF ceased to exist a long time ago.”

He further made his loyalty to the current Islamic State emir and self-proclaimed Caliph known by adding that “currently, we are a province, the Central African Province which is one province among the numerous provinces that make up the Islamic State that is under the Caliph and leader of all Muslims…Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.”

Since its first attack under the ISCAP moniker, the group has claimed at least 110 operations in the Congo according to data kept by this author. The majority of these can be tied to verified ADF attacks based on reporting by the Kivu Security Tracker (a project that maps violence in eastern Congo) and by local media.⁸⁹

The U.S. Department of State’s annual report on Terrorism, covering 2019, reported:

The ADF has been present in Beni [North Kivu] for years and now includes a majority of Congolese fighters, although the ADF recruits fighters from around the region as well. In 2019, as in previous years, the ADF was responsible for numerous attacks on civilians, the FARDC, and UN peacekeepers. During the calendar year, the Kivu Security Tracker (a joint project between the Congo Research Group and Human Rights Watch) documented 310 civilian deaths in North Kivu attributed to the ADF, as of December 13, 2019.⁹⁰

The report further noted that:

Throughout 2019, the ADF attacked Congolese civilians, the FARDC, and MONUSCO peacekeepers located in Beni Territory, North Kivu and southern parts of Ituri in eastern DRC.

The Kivu Security Tracker reported that the ADF had killed at least 310 civilians in Beni Territory as of December 13 [2019], with press reporting at least 32 additional deaths as of December 20 [2019]. A significant increase in planned attacks on civilians was announced by ADF in response to FARDC operations against the ADF launched on October 30 [2019].

Attacks have been conducted against civilians primarily by small groups of fighters, using small arms or machetes for the majority of attacks in areas where the ADF has been present for years.⁹¹

The Group of Experts on the DRC, as mandated by a UN Security Council resolution, reported in its report covering August to November 2019:

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) remained a serious threat to peace and stability in Beni and Irumu territories and continued to attack civilians and FARDC positions. ADF came under pressure following the launch, on 30 October 2019, of FARDC operations against its stronghold. Although Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as Da’esh) had publicly claimed responsibility for several attacks carried out in Beni territory, the Group was unable to confirm any direct link between ISIL and ADF at the time of writing the present report.⁹²

89 Long War Journal, State Department designates Islamic State in DRC, Moambique, 11 March 2021

90 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 24 June 2020

91 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 24 June 2020

92 UN Security Council, Midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 20 December 2019, Summary

Further details on ADF’s leadership and locations, incursions into Boga and Chabi, recruitment and training, possible links to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, and operations of the Congolese armed forces against the ADF between August and November 2019 can be found in the UN Security Council, Midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, 20 December 2019, paras. 20-26.

The Group of Experts on the DRC reported in its report covering November 2019 to 25 April 2020:

In North Kivu, ADF benefited from established external and local recruitment and supply networks, and its combatants continued to target FARDC and civilians in Beni territory. The Group did not find any direct links between ADF and Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).⁹³ Further details on ADF’s violent combat against DRC’s armed forces, its recruitment and supply networks, sources of financing and links with Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant between November 2019 and 25^th April 2020 can be found in the UN Security Council, Final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2 June 2020, paras.

32-44.

In July 2020, OHCHR released a statement reporting that the ADF has intensified its attacks against civilians in the eastern provinces of the DRC over the last 18 months, expanding its actions beyond areas in which it previously operated:

These attacks, which have left more than 793 people dead and dozens of others injured, may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, according to a UN investigation. The ADF has been militarily active in Beni territory, in North Kivu province, for more than three decades.

But following military campaigns against the armed group, particularly since October 2019, ADF combatants dispersed into small groups and some of these groups fled to other areas, especially to Irumu territory in neighbouring Ituri province, where the number and the intensity of the attacks have increased significantly. The impact on civilians of these changes is described in detail in a report by the UN Joint Human Rights Office in the DRC (UNJHRO), which shows how the human rights abuses committed by ADF fighters have been systematic and brutal. Assailants used heavy weaponry during attacks against villages, including AK47s and mortars, and also machetes and knives. They often burned down entire villages, destroyed health centres and schools, and abducted and recruited men, women and children. “In the majority of cases, the means and the modus operandi of the attacks indicate a clear intention to leave no survivors. Entire families have been hacked to death,” the report says. The report highlights that, given the widespread and systematic nature of the attacks directed against the civilian population, some of these human rights abuses may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. According to UNJHRO investigations, from 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020, 793 civilians were killed, 176 wounded and 717 others abducted by ADF combatants in North-Kivu and Ituri provinces. During the same period, 59 children were recruited; and one school, seven health centres and dozens of civilian houses were attacked and looted. The violence triggered massive displacement between September 2019 and June 2020.⁹⁴

The full report mentioned above can be found here.⁹⁵

93 UN Security Council, Final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2 June 2020, Summary

94 OHCHR, DRC: Attacks by ADF armed group may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes, 7 July 2020

95 OHCHR-MONUSCO, Report on violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Allied Democratic Forces armed group and by members of the defense and security forces in Beni

The Group of Experts on the DRC reported in its report covering 25 April 2020 to 19 November 2020:

In North Kivu, operations of the Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, FARDC) scattered the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) into several mobile groups and extended the ADF area of operations.

While supply chains were disrupted, ADF continued to attack FARDC and civilians. ADF demonstrated improved knowledge of improvised explosive device construction techniques.

While Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) claimed responsibility for many attacks in Beni territory, the Group of Experts was unable to establish any direct link between the two groups.⁹⁶

In January 2021 an updated report was published in French focusing on the situation between July and December 2020.⁹⁷ Using an online translation tool, Onlinedoctranslator.com, the following summary findings were translated from French into English:

In this update, the UNJHRO takes stock of the violations and abuses of human rights and the violations of international humanitarian law documented by the UNJHRO from 1er July to December 31, 2020. The human rights situation has deteriorated considerably, the ADF continued attacks against civilian populations with a peak during the month of December 2020 in the Ruwenzori sector. During the period under review, 313 human rights abuses were documented by the UNJHRO, which represents a considerable increase, with 173 violations documented during the previous six months. These attacks left at least 468 civilian victims of summary execution (including 345 men, 108 women and 15 children) from July to December 2020. During the same period, at least 77 people kidnapped including 20 women and three minors were killed. been released. The fate of 457 people including 62 women and nine minors is unknown to date.

The attack on 20 October 2020 on Beni prison by ADF fighters was a turning point in the upsurge in violence and had a negative impact on efforts to fight impunity. More than 1,300 detainees, including members of armed groups and the security and defense forces convicted or in preventive detention within the framework of legal proceedings, escaped.⁹⁸

The Combating Terrorism Center provided the following summary with regards to ADF attacks from November 2019 to October 2020:

territory, North Kivu province and Irumu and Mambasa territories, Ituri province, between 1 January 2019 and 31 January 2020, July 2020

96 UN Security Council, Midterm report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 23 December 2020, Summary

97 OHCHR-MONUSCO, Violations and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by combatants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and members of the Congolese defense and security forces in the territories of Beni (North Kivu), Irumu and Mambasa , January 2021 [Atteintes et violations des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire commises par des combattants des Forces alliées démocratiques (ADF) et des membres des forces de défense et de sécurité congolaises dans les territoires de Beni (Nord-Kivu), d’Irumu et de Mambasa (Ituri) [Mise à jour de juillet à décembre 2020]]

98 OHCHR-MONUSCO, Violations and violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by combatants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and members of the Congolese defense and security forces in the territories of Beni (North Kivu), Irumu and Mambasa , January 2021, p. 4 [Atteintes et violations des droits de l’homme et du droit international humanitaire commises par des combattants des Forces alliées démocratiques (ADF) et des membres des forces de défense et de sécurité congolaises dans les territoires de Beni (Nord-Kivu), d’Irumu et de Mambasa (Ituri) [Mise à jour de juillet à décembre 2020]]

[…] In early November 2019, however—not long after al-Baghdadi’s death—the trajectories of ISCAP’s ADF and “Al Shabaab” branches began to diverge sharply. Even prior to the first official claim of an attack in the DRC, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi visited Washington in April 2019 seeking assistance for fighting the ADF, framing it as a fight against the Islamic State, two and a half months after he had assumed office. Following months of escalating rhetoric by the Congolese government, the Congolese military (FARDC) launched a large-scale offensive on October 30, 2019, driving the ADF from most of its main base areas in Beni territory within a month. The ADF responded with vicious reprisal attacks on civilians as it tried to divert the FARDC from the frontlines, it appears to have relocated most of its fighters to new areas in Beni and neighboring Irumu territories, as well as reestablished recruitment and finance networks in Uganda. A brief lull in massacres perpetrated by the terrorists was followed by a rapid escalation beginning in March 2020 as the ADF attempted to clear civilians from its new areas of operation. By mid-September 2020, more than 800 civilians had been killed in around 200 retaliatory ADF attacks in Beni and Ituri.s While individual ADF attacks remained for the most part relatively small-scale—occasionally killing dozens but on average resulting in five fatalities—the extremely high frequency of its attacks on Congolese civilians and military personnel has meant that although the FARDC has seized back territory, it has still struggled to contain ISCAP-ADF’s violence.⁹⁹

In February 2021, the Kivu Security Tracker published the findings of its report that recorded that the ADF was responsible for more killings of civilians than any other armed group during the period of June 2017 to October 2020:

[…] Four armed groups – the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), the Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda (FDLR), the Alliance des patriotes pour un Congo libre et souverain (APCLS), and the NDC-R – along with the national army account for over a third of all incidents and half of all civilians killed. The ADF is a particular threat, responsible for more killings of civilians (37%) by far than any other armed group. […]¹⁰⁰

In March 2021 Vatican News summarised the groups origins and current standing as follows:

The group [ADF] has been carrying out attacks in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the 1990s, when the rebels arrived on the scene with a political agenda.

They have since abandoned their political demands and degenerated into a terrorist militia group involved in trafficking minerals from the eastern DRC. In recent years, militias of the ADF have taken to calling themselves "Madinat Tawhid wa-l-Muwahidin (MTM)." Their alleged

"affiliation" to the Islamic State (IS) is the subject of controversy and speculation.¹⁰¹

African Arguments published a report in March 2021, which discussed how ADF combatants are financed:

[…] external financing is not crucial for ADF’s survival. According to recent interviews with detained ADF combatants, the group relies primarily on supplies obtained via looting and

“business” operations in North Kivu […].¹⁰²

99 Combating Terrorism Center, Jason Warner, Ryan O'Farrell, Héni Nsaibia, and Ryan Cummings, Outlasting the Caliphate: The Evolution of the Islamic State Threat in Africa, November/December 2020, Volume 13, Issue 11

100 Kivu Security Tracker, The Landscape of Armed Groups in Eastern Congo: Missed Opportunities, Protracted Insecurity and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, 28 February 2021

101 Vatican News, DRC: Over 20 civilians killed days after slaying of Italian ambassador, 1 March 2021

102 African Arguments, The US has placed sanctions on ISIS-DRC, but does the group even exist?, 31 March 2021

The Group of Experts on the DRC reported in its report covering November 2020 to 23^rd April 2021:

In North Kivu, despite operations of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Forces armées de la République démocratique du Congo, FARDC), the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) armed group rebuilt and intensified its attacks, particularly in the Rwenzori sector. ADF increased its use of improvised explosive devices against FARDC and civilians. The involvement of ADF combatants from outside the Democratic Republic of the Congo contributed to modest advancements in improvised explosive device construction techniques.

The Group was unable to establish direct support or command and control of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) over ADF, despite ADF attempts to project alignment with ISIL.

ADF attacks and abduction of farmers, many of whom cultivated cocoa, took place across Beni territory. ADF and its collaborators undertook isolated acts of cocoa harvesting, theft and trade.¹⁰³

Further details on ADF’s locations and leadership, recruitment, weaponry and military training, attacks against civilians in Rwenzori, ideology, propaganda and links with ISIL can be found in the UN Security Council, Final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 10 June 2021, paras. 11-31.

With regards to ADF’s ties to ISIS, the U.S. Department of State’s 2019 report on terrorism stated:

Rebel group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) established ties with ISIS in late 2018. Before its ISIS affiliation, the ADF previously attempted outreach to Islamist terrorist groups for multiple years, including online posts by some ADF members in 2016 and 2017 referring to their group Madinat Tauheed Wal Mujahedeen while displaying an ISIS-like flag. ISIS publicly recognized ADF as an affiliate in late 2018 and claimed responsibility for ADF attributed attacks starting in April 2019 after an attack on an Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) base near Kamango on April 16 [2019].¹⁰⁴

The U.S. Department of State, in March 2021, “confirmed that the group formerly known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is the Islamic State’s official representative” and

“responsible for many attacks across North Kivu and Ituri Provinces in eastern DRC”, killing

“over 849 civilians in 2020 alone”.¹⁰⁵

The International Crisis Group stated in March 2021 with regards to these links:

A recent study on the ADF by George Washington University, which some U.S. officials privately endorse, provides evidence that ISIS has given financial assistance to the DRC group, and that there have been communications between the two organisations. Specifically, the report details financial transactions between Waleed Ahmed Zein, an ISIS financial operative who was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury in September 2018, and his alleged ADF contacts. It additionally details cases where ISIS disseminated propaganda about ADF attacks and presents ISIS-published photos of ADF leader Seka Musa Baluku, who according to the study has pledged allegiance to the global ISIS leadership, preaching to his recruits.

The study also states, however, that it has found “no evidence of direct command and control orders” from ISIS to the ADF. The December 2020 UN report states that even if ISIS claimed 46 purported ADF attacks in 2020, compared to 29 in 2019, many of the claims inaccurately

103 UN Security Council, Final report of the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 10 June 2021, Summary

104 U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2019, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 24 June 2020

105 Long War Journal, State Department designates Islamic State in DRC, Moambique, 11 March 2021

described the attacks’ locations and dates, leading the authors to conclude that ISIS had

“limited knowledge and control” of these operations. In the meantime, sources close to the ADF say one ADF faction appears to have rejected ISIS and may even be turning against Baluku’s group.¹⁰⁶

[Note: The study mentioned in the excerpt above can be found here: The George Washington University, Program on Extremism, The Islamic State in Congo, March 2021]

In March 2021 the U.S. Department of State added the Islamic State’s Central African Province (ISCAP) to “its list of designated terrorist organizations”, as well as the leader of “IS Congo”, Musa Baluku, to its list as “specially designated global terrorists”.¹⁰⁷

Following the designation, the International Crisis Group provided the following background on the ADF:

The ADF and ASWJ are groups whose violence has historically been first and foremost driven by local dynamics and grievances. They recruit mainly local fighters.

Although it emerged in the 1990s as an Islamist movement fighting the Ugandan state, the ADF has since the 2000s mostly been active in the northern part of the DRC’s North Kivu province, where it has recruited Congolese fighters, including by force, and entrenched itself by manipulating disputes among local chiefs and communities in areas under its control.

Having developed tactical alliances with both senior army officers and armed groups fighting security forces, it both fuels and feeds off an internecine and murky conflict on the ground […]

Both the ADF and ASWJ have grown more dangerous over the years, becoming increasingly bold in their attacks against security forces while inflicting terrible violence against civilians.

The ADF, long dormant in the DRC, first began resurfacing again in 2014, mainly committing atrocities against civilians in gruesome machete attacks. From 2017, the group then began turning its attention increasingly against government security forces and UN peacekeepers. Its operations became more sophisticated and used greater firepower. According to a December 2020 report by UN investigators in the DRC, the ADF has over time also become better at building improvised explosive devices, although it has nothing like the ISIS core’s expertise.

Recent Congolese military operations between late 2019 and October 2020 have killed hundreds of fighters belonging to the ADF, which Crisis Group’s research indicates is now split into competing factions. Some elements have moved east to the foothills of the Rwenzori mountains bordering Uganda, and some north into neighbouring Ituri province, where they have been involved in reported killings.¹⁰⁸

Africa Arguments presented in an article published in March 2021 the articles for and against a suggested link between ADF and ISIS, which can be accessed here.¹⁰⁹