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1 [1] (September 1, 2022)

handle is hein.crs/goveirv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: CongressionaI Research Servs inforingj the egisiative debte sm 1914 September 1, 2022 The Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamic State Affiliate in the Democratic Republic of Congo The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is an armed group primarily active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). ADF combatants primarily are from Uganda and DRC, with some reportedly from other countries in East Africa. The Islamic State (IS, aka ISIL/ISIS) recognized a pledge of allegiance by ADF leadership in 2019, and the State Department designated the group as an IS affiliate and Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 2021. The ADF has drawn interest from Congress due to its IS affiliation and for the threat it poses to long-running U.S. efforts to help stabilize DRC, where overlapping conflicts have caused one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The ADF has reportedly expanded its areas of operation, capacity, and lethality since 2021, despite Congolese and Ugandan military operations. DRC's government declared martial law in ADF-affected areas in May 2021, and in late 2021, Uganda deployed troops to counter the ADF inside DRC after a string of attacks within Uganda. Since mid- 2022, a surge in activity by another DRC-based armed group, the March 23 Movement (M23), has led some DRC troops and U.N. peacekeeping forces to withdraw from ADF-affected areas, deepening a security vacuum. Researchers debate the nature and significance of the ADF's IS ties, amid ambiguity about the ADF's size, structure, and aims. The U.S.-based Congo Research Group and U.N. sanctions investigators for DRC have reported that other armed groups or members of DRC's military may be responsible for some attacks attributed to the ADF or claimed by IS global media on the ADF's behalf. Origins. The ADF-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) was formed in 1995 as a merger of two Ugandan rebel movements that had fled to DRC (then Zaire) under Ugandan military pressure. The governments of Zaire and Sudan, then at odds with Uganda, reportedly provided backing. Under leader Jamil Mukulu, a member of Tablighi Jamaat (a global Sunni Muslim revivalist movement), the ADF-NALU rebranded itself as Islamist and recruited among Ugandan Muslims. The group also began to recruit in DRC (at times forcibly), and forged ties with local civilians, soldiers, and rebels via marriage, trade, and alliances. The NALU component eventually disbanded. The ADF grew more active in DRC in the early 2010s, and was implicated in large civilian massacres starting in 2014. Leadership. In 2014, joint U.N.-DRC military operations splintered the ADF. Leader Mukulu was arrested in Tanzania in 2015 and extradited to Uganda. His successor, Seka Musa Baluku, likewise a Ugandan national, has pursued IS affiliation, advocated Islamic rule in DRC, and overseen an apparent growth in ADF capacity. (Muslims reportedly comprise between 2% and 5% of DRC's total population.) Rival, less capable factions reportedly endure. Figure 1. Approximate Areas of ADF Activity Approximate areas of ADF activity January 1, 2021June 1 2022 Source: CRS graphic based on Kivu Security Tracker data. Attempted attacks were also reported in Rwanda. Impact. The ADF has reportedly killed thousands of civilians and hundreds of soldiers in DRC since 2014, and the conflict has displaced tens to hundreds of thousands of people. (Overall, about 6 million people were internally displaced in DRC as of late 2021, one of the world's largest tolls; about a million more Congolese were refugees or asylum-seekers in nearby countries.) According to a tally by the U.N. peacekeeping operation in DRC (MONUSCO), the ADF killed over 1,300 civilians in 2021, nearly 50% more than in 2020. U.N. officials have attributed possible crimes against humanity and war crimes to the ADF, including civilian killings, abductions, and use of child soldiers. The ADF also has been implicated in a string of prison breaks. Security threats, among other factors, impeded efforts to contain a large Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri in 2018-2020. State security forces have allegedly committed abuses, including extrajudicial killings and sexual violence, during counter-ADF operations. After seeming to be weakened and divided by military operations in the mid-2010s, the ADF appeared to rebound around 2017. An ADF assault on a MONUSCO outpost in 2017 was one of the deadliest attacks ever on U.N. peacekeepers, killing 15 Tanzanian soldiers and wounding dozens. Since 2019, when DRC launched a new military offensive, the ADF has expanded north into Ituri from its longtime strongholds in North Kivu (Figure 1), and has increasingly used improvised explosive devices (IEDs). In April 2022, DRC officials stated that they suspected the ADF in a suicide bombing outside Goma, a large city and hub for peacekeeping and aid operations; if confirmed, this would be the group's first attack in the Goma area.

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