ISIS-Central Africa Province; A Growing Threat As It Expands To DRC And Mozambique

Islamic State (ISIS-Central) has been claiming attacks by its alleged Central Africa Wilayat since April a move that seeks to ascertain its global expansion despite its fall in the Middle East. The Islamic State Central Africa Province dubbed (ISCAP) has active cells in Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and a trend that seems to indicate an increased number of attacks as compared to the parent group.

Increased Number of Attacks

In DRC:

• The first attack claimed by ISIS was on 18^th April where the militants attacked Congolese soldiers near Ugandan Border near Kamango.
• 25^th April- ISIS-affiliated media agency claimed an attack by ISCAP where at least 3 soldiers were killed in Butembo area.
• 29^th May- UN-Congolese barracks were attacked by ISCAP in Ngite near Mavivi
• 02^nd June- ISIS telegram channel claimed attack on Congolese military in Beni area
• 04^th June -overnight attack near Beni where at least 15 people were killed by ISCAP
• 04^th June- ISIS claimed via telegram that ISCAP attacked military convoy in Beni, North Kivu where at least two dozen soldiers were killed.

In Mozambique:

On 4^th June 2019, ISIS-central claimed the first attack by its affiliate in Mozambique under ISCAP which currently incorporates groups here as well as DRC. The Mozambique faction which is active in the gas-rich northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Background and Threat Analysis

Historically, ADF is a product of the union between Islamic fundamentalists hailing from the highly conservative Tablighi Jamaat group and the remnants of the Islamic National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU). It also includes some Muslim ex-commanders from the army of Idi Amin, the former president of Uganda.

ADF’s leader Shaykh Jamil Mukulu is believed to have been an ally to slain Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden who he met in Sudan in the hay days before receiving training in Afghanistan. In the past, ADF has sought funding and support from Al Qaeda to establish a Jihadi movement in Central Africa and hence, an inclination to pledging bayat to ISIS. The birth of Al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah is very similar to what was seen with Boko Haram in Nigeria. It started as a religious sect which transformed into a guerrilla group. Al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah is Arabic for “people of the Sunnah community”.

ADF is believed to have between 800-1400 soldiers with trained and core fighters being anywhere between 500 and 1000 fighters majority active in DRC. Most of the training camps and weapon armories are located deep in the restive North Kivu province. On the other hand, Al-Sunnah wa Jama’ah has between about 350 and 1,500 members who are organized in tens of small cells along the coast of Northern Mozambique.

While ADF-primary is self-funding from illegal gold mining and timber smuggling as well as other business in the town around the headquarters, the group has external financiers from Europe and neighboring African countries. Mozambique’s Muslim-majority Cabo Delgado province is expected to become the center of a natural gas industry after promising offshore discoveries near Palma.

Therefore, it is quite possible that despite DRC and Ugandan government seemingly treating the group as a local rebel group, the resources at their disposal and potential to capture more villages and regions could quite possibly make ADF-ISCAP the most lethal Wilayat of ISIS. Significantly, upon the recent claim by the terror group of its first attack in Mozambique, the terror organization is amercing offshoots in very strategic regions of the world and especially in Africa. In Mozambique, the anarchist nature of the government and the potential of a flourishing gas mining operation could offer a conducive environment to breed violence and a deadly terror outfit.