The Congolese army has launched a major military offensive against armed rebel groups in the eastern part of the country where the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) allied to the Islamic State is active.
The operation is geared at clearing the groups in the region where reports indicate that since the ADF became part of the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) it has been actively recruiting and training fighters in the heavily forested region. The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) will support the operation.
Armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern Kivu provinces have killed 1,900 civilians and abducted more than 3,300 others between June 2017 and June 2019, according to recent reports by Human Rights Watch released in august. The Beni region, in the North Kivu province which borders Uganda and Rwanda, has been particularly affected by militia violence.
The Congolese army has in recent weeks been significantly increasing the number of personnel in the Beni region. Earlier this month, the government said there were 21,000 soldiers in Beni, almost doubling the forces previously deployed.
