Photo Source: Chris Mamu, AP Photo
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)
Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore
For any further information or to subscribe to GP alerts send an email to subachandran@nias.res.in
NIAS AFRICA STUDIES
Resurging insurgency in Uganda and insecurity in East Africa
Anu Maria Joseph
|
Resurging insurgency in Uganda and insecurity in East Africa
Recent developments say insurgent groups active in East Africa are expanding across borders. While the insurgent groups are expanding towards relatively stable countries like Uganda and Kenya, Ethiopia’s violence in Tigray and Sudan’s ongoing conflict are potential grounds for the insurgent groups to amplify.
Anu Maria Joseph
On 18 June, Al Jazeera reported that at least 41 people were killed in western Uganda which according to the Ugandan government, is a suspected attack by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). ADF is a rebel group based in Uganda that has sworn allegiance to Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). The militants attacked the Lhubiriha secondary school in the town of Mpondwe, near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In response to the attack, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni stated: “Their [ADF] action -- the desperate, cowardly, terrorist action -- will not save them.” Ugandan police spokesperson, Fred Enanga stated: "As a country, we continue to stand by each other in the fight against terrorism. No matter how heinous the attack or how brutal or inhumane the methods used, the ADF will not be able to succeed in demolishing the solidarity of Ugandans in the fight against terrorism and extremism."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack stating: “Those responsible for this appalling act must be brought to justice.” He reiterated the importance of “collective efforts, including through enhanced regional partnerships, to tackle cross-border insecurity between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda and restore durable peace in the area.”
ADF insurgency in Uganda and DRC: A brief background
The rebel groups, the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU) and the Uganda Muslim Liberation Army (UMLA), joined forces to form the ADF in 1995, opposing President Yoweri Museveni, whose government is alleged of persecution of Muslims. The group was routed from its bases in the western Rwenzori region, along the borders of Uganda and DRC in early 2000, where its fighters had been raiding villages and schools. Since 2013, ADF has been active in eastern DRC. According to the UN Joint Human Rights Office, they recruited 59 children and killed 1,066 civilians in the DR Congo's North Kivu and Ituri provinces between January 2019 and June 2020. Nevertheless, the group continued its attacks in Uganda. In 2021, the Ugandan government blamed the group for suicide bombings in the capital, Kampala.
Failing ‘Operation Shujja’
Following escalating rebel attacks in both countries in 2021, Uganda and the DRC signed a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2021 for a military operation, "Operation Shujaa," against the ADF in eastern DRC. The aim of the operation was to neutralise the group’s campaigns. Initially, the joint forces had made significant gains dislodging the ADF from its bases in the Virunga forest. Subsequently, the group scattered into smaller groups as a tactic to over stretch the forces. However, most recently, the group has been conducting frequent attacks along the border regions of DRC and Uganda. On 6 April, the UN mission in the DRC (The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO) stated that more than 30 people were killed in ADF attacks in the border territories of Mambasa and Irumu between 2 and 3 April. The attack in Mpondwe follows the previous week’s ADF attack in Bukokoma village of the North Kivu province in eastern DRC near the Ugandan border, killing at least ten civilians. Increasing frequency of ADF attacks means the group is gaining ground and strengthening its intentions in terms of returning to Uganda to establish an Islamic government.
A larger debate on rising insecurity in East Africa
In the previous quarterly report by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, published on 27 March, he reiterated that more than 485 civilians were killed in eastern DRC between 1 December 2022 and 14 March 2023 in a series of attacks carried out by several armed groups including March23 (M23), ADF and Cooperative for Development of the Congo (CODECO). Most recently, on 12 June MONUSCO reported that more than 45 people were killed in an attack by CODECO in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in northeastern DRC. On 14 June, Al Jazeera reported on al-Shabab militants killing eight police officers in Garissa county in Eastern Kenya, bordering Somalia. In Somalia, although President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had announced an “all out war” against the al-Shabab militancy in August 2022, the group continues to expand its campaign in east Africa. On 5 June, 54 Ugandan soldiers were killed in an al-Shabab attack on the African Union base in Somalia. Recent developments say insurgent groups active in East Africa are expanding across borders. While the insurgent groups are expanding towards relatively stable countries like Uganda and Kenya, Ethiopia’s violence in Tigray and Sudan’s ongoing conflict are potential grounds for the insurgent groups to amplify.
About the author
Anu Maria Joseph is a Research Assistant at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
Bookmark |
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week (16-22 March)
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week (1 March-7 March)
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week (24 February-29 February)
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week
NIAS Africa Team
Africa This Week (3-10 Feb 2024)
Jerry Franklin A
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON): Five Questions
Narmatha S and Anu Maria Jospeh
Ethiopia-Somalia tensions over Somaliland | Explained
Anu Maria Joseph
Ethiopia and Sudan: Governance in deadlock
Nithyashree RB
COP28 and Africa: Priorities and Initiatives
Anu Maria Joseph
Sierra Leone: A failed coup
Jerry Franklin A
Floods in East Africa
Sneha Surendran
Africa’s debate on colonial reparations
Anu Maria Joseph
Sudan’s ceasefires remain elusive: Four reasons why
Nithyashree RB
Liberia elections: Explained
Jerry Franklin
France's increasing unpopularity in Niger
Anu Maria Joseph
Africa in the Indian Ocean region: Explained
Jerry Franklin A
Sudan: Escalated fighting between rival factions and its implications
Anu Maria Joseph
Taiwan in Africa: The Last Ally and the Lost Allies
Sneha Surendran
Africa Climate Summit: Rising new leadership in climate action
Nithyashree RB
Coup in Gabon: Three questions
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #78 | Coup in Gabon
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #77 | Profile on Ethiopia’s ethnic groups: Composition, Representation and Issues
Jerry Franklin A
A profile on Ethiopia's Oromo ethnic group
Sneha Surendran
A profile on Ethiopia’s Somali ethnic group
Nithyashree RB
A profile on Ethiopia’s Afar ethnic group
Anu Maria Joseph
Ethiopia’s Amhara problem
Jerry Franklin A
ECOWAS and Niger remain at an impasse, causing a prolonged standoff
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #75&76 | Ethiopia’s conflict in Amhara and Prolonged standoff in Niger
Jerry Franklin A
Coup in Niger: Manifold national, regional and international stances
Sneha Surendran
Senegal's political crisis: Four questions
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #73&74 | Coup in Niger and Senegal’s political crisis
Nithyashree RB
The UN in Africa: MINUSMA has failed. So did Mali
Devjyoti Saha
China-Africa Security Partnership: Expansion Across Spectrums
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #72 | End of MIUSMA in Mali and Chinese Security Interventions in Africa
Jerry Franklin A
A Profile of the Wagner group in Africa: From supporting military, authoritarian leaders to fighting militancy and mine licencing
Anu Maria Joseph
The Wagner Group in Africa: Fallouts of the failed revolt in Russia
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #69-71 | The Wagner Group in Africa
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #68 | Eritrea Rejoining IGAD and Resurging Insurgency in Uganda
Anu Maria Joseph
Resurging insurgency in Uganda and insecurity in East Africa
Jerry Franklin
Eritrea: Back to the IGAD after 16 years
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #67 | Persisting Ethnic Cleansing in Ethiopia's Tigray Region and a Political profile on Tunisia
Jerry Franklin
Tunisia: A Political Profile
NIAS Africa Team
Africa Weekly #66 | Ceasefires in Sudan & Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis
Jerry Franklin
Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis: Reasons for its continuation
Anu Maria Joseph
Ceasefires in Sudan: An uneasy trajectory
NIAS Africa Team
In Focus | Japan in Africa
Devjyoti Saha
Japan in Africa: Renewed Efforts to Revitalise Relations
NIAS Africa Team
Sudan: Intensifying political rivalry and expanding violence
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Nigeria’s new wave of kidnappings: Who, why and what fallouts
NIAS Africa Team
Expanding Russia-South Africa relations
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Tunisia: The question of undocumented migrants
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Macron’s visit to Africa: Three Takeaways
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Nigeria elections: Ruling party wins; What is ahead?
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | M23 atrocities in DRC and upcoming Nigeria elections
NIAS Africa Team
Africa in 2023: Elections and conflicts
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to Africa
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Bamako’s pardon of Ivorian soldiers
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | The relapse of ANC
NIAS Africa Team
The US-Africa Leaders Summit
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | The Wagner Group, exploitation of conflicts and increased dependency on Russia
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | End of Operation Barkhane
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | The ceasefire in Ethiopia
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Challenges to peace in Eastern Congo
NIAS Africa Team
China-Africa relations: Looking back and looking ahead
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Chad's political crisis
NIAS Africa Team
Floods in West Africa: Nigeria and beyond
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Famine in Somalia
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Kenya Elections 2022
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | The reinvention of Al Shabab
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Lavrov's visit to Africa
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Macron's visit to Africa
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Tunisia's political crisis
NIAS Africa Team
Tunisia’s political crisis: Five questions
NIAS Africa Team
Tribal conflict in Blue Nile: Causes and Implications
NIAS Africa Team
Sudan-Ethiopia border tensions and a profile of Blaise Compaoré
NIAS Africa Team
Africa’s continuing migration problem: Three issues
NIAS Africa Team
Visit of the Belgium King to the DRC and tensions between the DRC and Rwanda
NIAS Africa Team
Africa’s displacement crises: Three key drivers
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Into the Sixth Decade of African Unity
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Communal Tensions in Ethiopia
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Mali ends defence ties with France
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | UK-Rwanda asylum deal
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Africa, Russia, and the War in Ukraine
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | The rise of East African Community: From the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Political Crisis in Tunisia
NIAS Africa Team
60 years of Algerian independence
NIAS Africa Team
In Focus: Libya
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS | Europe and Africa: Will AU and EU be equal partners?
Anu Maria Joseph
Europe and Africa: Will AU and EU be equal partners?
Nireekshan Bollimpalli
Africa’s slow COVID vaccination continues. Four reasons why
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS: Conflict over the Nile Dam
NIAS Africa Team
IN FOCUS: Instability in Burkina Faso
Mohamad Aseel Ummer
Africa: The anti-France sentiments in Mali and beyond
Apoorva Sudhakar
Coup in Burkina Faso: Five things to know
Harshita Rathore
Famine in Ethiopia: The government's refusal to acknowledge, worsens the crisis
Apoorva Sudhakar
Africa’s Stolen Future:Child abductions, lost innocence, and a glaring reflection of State failure in Nigeria
Anu Maria Joseph
South Africa: What is behind the pro-Zuma protests?
Abigail Miriam Fernandez
Impending famine in Tigray, should make Ethiopia everyone's problem
Anu Maria Joseph
Too late and too little is Ethiopia's international problem
Sankalp Gurjar
Africa's Ethiopia Problem
Apoorva Sudhakar
Ethiopia's Tigray problem is Tigray's Ethiopia problem
Mohamad Aseel Ummer
Migration in Africa: Origin, Drivers and Destinations
Apoorva Sudhakar
15 of the 23 global hunger hotspots are in Africa. Three reasons why
Apoorva Sudhakar