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Kivu Conflict
The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to armed groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national, regional and international forces have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, the militaries of Uganda and Burundi, and an East African Community regional force. Conflict began in 2004 in the eastern Congo as an armed conflict between the military of the Democratic Republic of the Cong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horațiu Potra
Horațiu Potra (born 1970, Mediaș, Socialist Republic of Romania) is a Romanian-French security expert, businessman, mercenary, and political figure. He served in the French Foreign Legion, later working as a security chief for political figures in Africa and the Middle East. He also founded a private security company and was involved in the diamond trade. Personal life In 1988, during the communist regime, Potra was admitted to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at Politehnica University of Timișoara. He abandoned his studies in 1992 to enlist in the French Foreign Legion. During the Romanian Revolution of December 1989, he actively participated in the events in Timișoara from the first day, including the protest in front of the Regional Council on December 16, 1989. The next day, he was present at the Giroc border crossing in the area of blocked armored vehicles. Between December 22 and 29, he was in his hometown of Mediaș, where he assisted in maintaining order ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Forces For The Liberation Of Rwanda
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (, FDLR; , IDKR) is an armed rebel group active in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. As an ethnic Hutu group opposed to the ethnic Tutsi influence, the FDLR is one of the last factions of Rwandan rebels active in the Congo. It was founded through an amalgamation of other groups of Rwandan refugees in September 2000, including the former Army for the Liberation of Rwanda (ALiR), under the leadership of Paul Rwarakabije. It was active during the latter phases of the Second Congo War and the subsequent insurgencies in Kivu. As of December 2009, Major General Sylvestre Mudacumura was the FDLR's overall military commander. He was the former deputy commander of the FAR Presidential Guard in Rwanda in 1994.Hans Romkena, De VennhooOpportunities and Constraints for the Disarmament and Repatriation of Foreign Armed Groups in the DRC Multi Country Demobilization and Recovery Program, April 2007, report on FDLR described as ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mai-Mai Kyandenga
Mai-Mai Kyandenga is a Mai-Mai armed group operating in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It claims to protect the local population of Beni Territory and their land. It still remains unclear what the actual goal of the group is and how much it has in connection with the Union of Patriots for the Liberation of Congo (ULPC), Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and other Mai-Mai groups operating in the area. Background In 2002, the now leader of the group and former fisherman, Kyandenga, reportedly gained customary powers after reeling in a package that contained a flower, a diamond, a stick, a dollar bill, a bible, and a Koran. This gave him the attention of various armed group commanders and chiefs, including Fabien Mudoghu. Later on with the help of an acquaintance by name of Kilalo Katembo, now leader of the ULPC, he became a traditional doctor with the Mai-Mai Simba branch of Paul Sadala (Also known as Morgan). In 2011, he joined the armed group of FOLC in Beni Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamil Mukulu
Jamil Mukulu (born David Steven) is a Ugandan militant leader and suspected war criminal who was the principal founder and former leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, an armed Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mukulu was arrested in Tanzania in 2015 and is currently awaiting trial in Uganda for charges such as murder and crimes against humanity. Biography Jamil Mukulu was born David Steven in the village of Ntoke in the Kayunga District of Uganda on 17 April 1964, to Lutakome Sserwada and Aisha Nakiyemba. Little is known about his early life, except for the fact that he earned a degree in business management in Nairobi, Kenya. Although born into a Christian family, Steven soon converted to Islam, changed his name to "Jamil Mukulu", and studied abroad in Saudi Arabia, where he was introduced to fundamentalist Islamic ideologies, such as Salafism, and became radicalized. When he returned to Africa, Mukulu became involved in the conflict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musa Baluku
Musa Seka Baluku (born 1977) is a Ugandan militant and current leader of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel insurgent group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now largely a part of Islamic State – Central Africa Province. He took over as the commander of the ADF following the 2015 arrest of its former leader, Jamil Mukulu, in Tanzania. Baluku is under sanction by the United Nations and the United States for terrorist activities. Biography Very little is known about Baluku's early life; however it is known that he was born in the Kasese District of Uganda. The United Nations believes Baluku was born around 1977. Unlike most ADF commanders, who hail from the Baganda and Soga tribe, Baluku is part of the Mukonjo tribe. Baluku became a Salafi jihadist at an early age, and formerly served as an Imam at the Malakaz mosque in Kampala, Uganda. Baluku was one of the earliest members of the Allied Democratic Forces, and served as one of Jamil Mukulu's chief ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Allied Democratic Forces
The Allied Democratic Forces (; abbreviated ADF) is a Ugandan Islamist rebel group based in western Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government and the United States. Originally based in western Uganda, it has expanded into the neighbouring Congo. Most ADF fighters are Ugandan Muslims from the Baganda and Basoga ethnic groups. Since the late 1990s, the ADF has operated in the Congo's North Kivu province near the border with Uganda. While repeated military offensives against the ADF have severely affected it, the ADF has been able to regenerate because its recruitment and financial networks have remained intact. Some of the attacks it has been blamed for also appear to have been committed by other rebel groups as well as the Congolese Armed Forces. From 2015, the ADF experienced a radicalisation after the imprisonment of its leader Jamil Mukulu and the rise of Musa Baluku in his place. From 2019, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamestown Foundation
The Jamestown Foundation is a Washington, D.C.–based non-partisan defense policy think tank. Founded in 1984 as a platform to support Soviet defectors, its stated mission is to inform and educate policy makers about events and trends, which it regards as being of current strategic importance to the United States. Jamestown publications focus on China, Russia, Eurasia, and global terrorism. Founding and mission The Jamestown Foundation was founded in 1984 after Arkady Shevchenko, the highest-ranking Soviet official ever to defect when he left his position as Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, defected in 1978. William Geimer, an American lawyer, had been working closely with Shevchenko, and established the foundation as a vehicle to promote the writings of the former Soviet diplomat and those of Ion Pacepa, a former top Romanian intelligence officer; with the help of the foundation, both defectors published bestselling books.Jamestown FoundationOrigins Centra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Islamic State – Central Africa Province
The Islamic State – Central Africa Province (abbreviated IS-CAP, also known as Central Africa Wilayah and Wilayat Wasat Ifriqiya) is an Territory of the Islamic State, administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist militant group and diplomatic recognition, unrecognised quasi-state. As a result of a lack of information, the foundation date and territorial extent of the Central Africa Province are difficult to gauge, while the military strength and activities of the province's affiliates are disputed. The Central Africa Province initially covered all IS activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Uganda. In September 2020, during the insurgency in Cabo Delgado, IS-CAP shifted its strategy from raiding to actually occupying territory, and declared the Mozambican town of Mocímboa da Praia its capital. After this point, however, the Mozambican branch declined and was split off from IS-CAP in 2022, becoming a separate IS p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Union Of Congolese Patriots
The Union of Congolese Patriots (, or UPC) is a political and militia group in Ituri, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, formed towards the end of the Second Congo War. It was founded by Thomas Lubanga in 2001 and was one of six such groups that sprung up in the mineral-rich Ituri region on the border with Uganda in the Ituri conflict. The UPC supported and was primarily composed of the Hema ethnic group. History What began as a struggle for control over land and resources, broke out into ethnic warfare as atrocities increased and as arms from Uganda and Rwanda became available, and units of the Ugandan army became involved. By February 2003, the UPC was said to have fielded an estimated 15,000 soldiers. The UPC carried out numerous attacks upon civilians and other serious human rights abuses in pursuit of its policies. In August 2002, the UPC took control of the town of Bunia with the help of Ugandan forces, following which it received support from Rwanda. In l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patriotic Resistance Front Of Ituri
The Front for Patriotic Resistance in Ituri (; FRPI) is a Bunia-based armed militia and political party primarily active in the south of the Ituri Province of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly the Orientale Province). It is a member of the Congo River Alliance. History Origin The FRPI was established in November 2002 from the Ngiti ethnolinguistic group, a subgroup of Lendu, as an ally to the Lendu-dominated Nationalist and Integrationist Front (FNI). The Ngiti, organized under traditional leaders, thus formed a counterweight to the Rwanda-backed and Hema-dominated Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) in the Ituri conflict. The FRPI was supported by the Uganda-backed Forces for Renewal faction of the Rally for Congolese Democracy. In 2002–2003, the FRPI received support from both the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) in fighting against the UPC. Both the DRC and Uganda had also assisted ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banyamulenge
The Banyamulenge are a community that lives mainly in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, with roots from mainly Rwanda. The Banyamulenge are culturally and socially related to the Banyarwanda Tutsi found in Rwanda, with most speaking Kinyarwanda (official language of Rwanda). The Banyamulenge played a role in Mobutu's war against and victory over the Simba Rebellion, which was not supported by the majority of other tribes in South Kivu. They supported him to be naturalised in what was then Zaire. Their role during the First Congo War and subsequent regional conflicts ( Rally for Congolese Democracy–Goma, Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, National Congress for the Defence of the People, and more importantly for the fact that two of the most influential presidents of their country declared them as enemies of the state, in both 1996 (Mobutu Sese Seko) and 1998 (Laurent-Désiré Kabila). The Banyamulenge have been a point of controversy in the cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
