Yesterday, the US Treasury Department sanctioned three Islamic State facilitators based in Zambia, Uganda, and South Africa. The three have operated as part of a coordinated network that moves money between Islamic State franchises in Somalia, South Africa, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Mozambique.
At least 62 people have been killed by the Islamic State’s local arm in western Uganda since June.
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.
Musa Baluku, the leader of the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province (known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces), has joins other infamous Sunni jihadists actively sought after by the United States government.
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.
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.
Both wings collectively represent the Islamic State’s Central African Province, which the UN recently noted as one of the Islamic State’s most ‘dependable’ affiliates.
Both the Islamic State and its local affiliate, the Allied Democratic Forces, have linked yesterday’s prison break in DRC to a recent speech by the official Islamic State spokesman.
At least 1,300 inmates were freed in an operation conducted by the Allied Democratic Forces, the Islamic State’s local affiliate.
The Islamic State’s Central African Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has seen a rapid expansion in claimed activity in recent months. At the same time, it has tried to exploit the global coronavirus pandemic to recruit individuals.
The Islamic State has claimed at least nine attacks in the DRC since April.
The photos show more evidence of ties between militants in the DRC and the Islamic State.
Today’s claim marks the first time the Islamic State has claimed any activity in Central Africa.
The video reportedly shows a nascent Islamic State-loyal group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its authenticity cannot be independently verified by FDD’s Long War Journal.