Those skeptical of the link are concerned that acknowledging a relationship between the ADF and the Islamic State risks obscuring the region’s local drivers of violence, such as competition for illicit economies, and encouraging failed counterterrorism policies that could do more harm than good to Congo’s civilian population. Continued disagreement dilutes coordinated Western efforts in Congo to assist in finding a durable solution for the group’s escalating violence.
The ADF is a predatory armed group that has committed egregious crimes against humanity with impunity for decades. Yet there is a heated debate among Congo scholars and contemporary jihadism experts over whether or not the ADF is really tied to the Islamic State. It is one of the deadliest armed groups operating in Congo. The Uganda bombings were perpetrated by the Islamic State’s affiliate group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which calls itself the Islamic State Central Africa Province and is known locally as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
16, the Islamic State claimed two nearly simultaneous suicide bombings that rocked downtown Kampala, Uganda, and forced the closure of Uganda’s parliament. Last month, the Islamic State claimed its first attacks in Uganda. In fact, its reach is spreading to new parts of the globe. Within hours, the Islamic State-Khorasan claimed the attack, a sobering reminder that despite the Islamic State’s territorial defeat in Iraq and Syria two years ago, the group has not disappeared. service members and as many as 170 Afghans. 26, as the United States was rushing to evacuate Americans and their allies following the Taliban’s rapid advance across Afghanistan, a suicide bomber attacked the crowds surrounding Kabul’s airport, killing 13 U.S.