Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is an armed group accused by both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) of massacring thousands of civilians. The neighbouring countries have launched a joint operation and large numbers of Ugandan soldiers have entered the DRC at the Nobili border post in North Kivu state.
ADF is one of the deadliest militias plaguing the DRC’s mineral-rich east. The group was founded in Uganda in 1995 and then moved to the DRC. The United States linked it to ISIL (ISIS). Last Tuesday, the two countries reported that this armed group was hit with artillery and air raids. This fact was later confirmed by Ugandan army spokeswoman, Flavia Byekwaso. ADF has its bases in eastern DRC, a territory covered by a thick forest. Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb informed that, because of the thick vegetation and guerilla tactics used by the ADF, previous attempts to flush them out have failed.
Explosions and artillery fire have been recorded in North Kivu’s Watalinga, the Boga, and Tchabi districts, places that are hideouts of the ADF in the neighbouring Ituri province. In addition, the DRC’s Catholic Church informed that the ADF has killed about 6,000 civilians since 2013. The Kivu Security Tracker blames it for more than 1,200 deaths in North Kivu’s Beni area since 2017.
To read more, please visit:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/1/after-air-raids-uganda-sends-troops-into-drc-to-hunt-adf
Author: Giulia Francescon; Editor: Shrabya Ghimire
