Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are continuing to pursue a joint military offensive launched late last month against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group that is now said to be integrated into the Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP). The ironically named ADF has carried out a string of recent attacks in Uganda, and has for years been terrorizing the DRC’s North Kivu province. The Ugandan and DRC militaries say they have captured some 35 fighters and “neutralized” four rebel camps in the province. The campaign has included air raids and artillery strikes. (AfricaNews, Al Jazeera)
An analysis by the Pretoria-based Institute for Security Studies Africa notes that the French firm Total this year had to suspend operations at its natural gas facility in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province due to an ISCAP-linked insurgency. The French major is now looking hopefully to the Tilenga oil and gas fields, on Uganda’s border with the DRC. The Tilenga project, which seeks to exploit reserves lying under Lake Albert, is being developed in a joint venture the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC). ISS Africa asks: “Will Total confront another Islamic State-linked insurgency in Uganda?”
Photo via Africa Institute for Security Studies
Suicide attack in DR Congo’s North Kivu
A suicide bomber has attacked a restaurant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s eastern city of Beni, North Kivu province, killing at least five people and himself. Officials blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the attack. (Al Jazeera)