The Islamic State’s Central Africa Province, known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, mounted its second attack in western Uganda since last Friday. The mobile unit currently operating inside Uganda represents the first sustained guerrilla presence in the country since 2007.
The story of the Pan-Ugandan Liberation Initiative, a short-lived splinter faction of the more infamous Islamic State-loyal ADF that was destroyed earlier this year, provides important details and context in the ADF’s overall ideological trajectory and history.
U.S. Special Operations Forces killed Bilal al-Sudani, a key Islamic State operative responsible for coordinating the group’s finances and activities across central, eastern, and southern Africa (and beyond).
The raid also marks the first time that the Allied Democratic Forces, the local name for the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province, has struck inside Butembo city.
New reporting has shed new light on Shabaab’s recent incursions into Ethiopia. However, many perplexing elements remain uncovered.
In addition to recently striking two Ethiopian outposts inside Somalia right on the border with Ethiopia, Shabaab also launched a three-day incursion into Ethiopia itself. On the Ethiopian side, officials from the Somali Region have stated that Shabaab was attempting to assist an ethnic Oromo insurgent group. This claim is likely dubious but follows a clear historical precedent.
The Islamic State’s Central African representative, locally known as the Allied Democratic Forces, recently re-pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State’s new overall leader, Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Quraishi.
Following a delay of over two weeks, the Islamic State has officially taken credit for the Christmas day suicide bombing in eastern Congo. The bombing is just the fourth such operation conducted by the Islamic State’s local wing.
The Islamic State has claimed a series of bombings, including suicide bombings, inside Uganda over the past month. This represents a significant shift in the overall threat from the Islamic State’s wing based in the DRC.
While most of the Islamic State’s operations have been based inside Beni territory of Congo’s North Kivu Province, it has steadily expanded into neighboring Ituri Province since June.