We are in agreement. How nice..
[AlAhram] The militia has strengthened its reach through recruitment, superior command over terrain and planting bombs that outstripped the capabilities of the Congolese army.United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
experts said on Wednesday they had been unable to find evidence of direct support by Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
for an Islamist militia in eastern Congo, which was blacklisted in March by Washington as a terrorist group.
Experts on Central Africa have been debating whether the Allied Democratic Forces
...the ADF is one of several murderous Moslem groups in NE Congo. In 2019 the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on them for the usual reasons. They don't appear to be affiliated with al-Qaeda or Islamic State, though ISIS claims their work from time to time — they just like killing infidels....(ADF), blamed for increasing violence over the past two years in eastern Congo, has genuine links with the Islamic State group based in the Middle East, sometimes known as ISIS or ISIS.
The ADF has publicly aligned itself with Islamic State, which in turn has grabbed credit for some of its attacks. The United States referred to the ADF as "ISIS-DRC" when it added it to its terrorism blacklist.
In its latest report, the UN Group of Experts on the Congo said the ADF and Islamic State both benefited from making public statements that link them with each other. Such statements were "complementing and amplifying ADF local propaganda, and suggesting increased global reach for ISIS," the report said.
But it added: "The Group did not however find conclusive evidence of ISIS command and control over ADF operations, nor of ISIS direct support to ADF, either financial, human or material."
It found the ADF was getting better at making bombs using expertise from fighters recruited from East Africa, but that these bombs were used for "tactical, offensive, defensive and harassment purposes rather than as a terrorist tool".
The ADF has committed a spate of brutal reprisal attacks on civilians since the army began operations against it in late 2019. The group killed around 850 people last year in Congo’s restive east, according to UN figures, and violence has persisted this year with almost weekly attacks.
They advised the Congolese government to improve the army's intelligence and technical capabilities, while increasing efforts to negotiate with the group to disengage and disarm.
Related:
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-06-01 At least 39 dead in two attacks in eastern DR Congo
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-05-27 Islamist militants killed at least 22 civilians with knives and machetes in an overnight raid on villages near the town of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-05-18 Uganda to share intelligence with Congo on Islamist rebels
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-06-01 At least 39 dead in two attacks in eastern DR Congo
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-05-27 Islamist militants killed at least 22 civilians with knives and machetes in an overnight raid on villages near the town of Beni in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
Allied Democratic Forces: 2021-05-18 Uganda to share intelligence with Congo on Islamist rebels