The province of Ituri, located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has once again fallen victim to a brutal assault carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group originating from Uganda with ties to the Islamic State organization. During a nighttime raid, at least thirteen civilians lost their lives, and an entire village was reduced to ashes, as confirmed by local authorities. This violent episode adds to the long and tragic history of atrocities committed by this militia against rural communities in the region, where armed conflict persists despite the presence of regular military forces.
Another brutal attack in a suffering region
Assailants struck under the cover of darkness, deliberately targeting defenceless residents before setting their homes ablaze. The vast majority of the village was obliterated, forcing survivors to flee to nearby areas with nothing but the clothes on their backs. The tactics employed—lightning strikes on civilian targets, systematic arson, and the use of bladed weapons to conserve ammunition—align with the well-documented modus operandi of the ADF, which has been active in northeastern Congo for over a decade.
Ituri, a province bordering Uganda and South Sudan, continues to grapple with multiple security crises. In addition to the ADF threat, intercommunal violence between Hema and Lendu militias persists, while local armed groups exploit artisanal mining operations. The province has been under a state of siege since May 2021, placing civilian administration under military control, yet tangible improvements on the ground remain elusive.
Operation Shujaa struggles against evolving threats
Since late 2021, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) have conducted a joint operation with Uganda’s People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) known as Shujaa, aimed at dismantling ADF strongholds in North Kivu and Ituri. Nearly four years into the campaign, the results remain hotly debated. While several rebel bases have been destroyed, fighters have fragmented into mobile cells, shifting their strategy to target isolated villages rather than engaging military convoys.
This dispersed approach poses significant challenges for counterinsurgency efforts. The ADF leverages the dense equatorial forests, the porous Uganda border, and the near-total absence of communication infrastructure to strike and retreat swiftly. Each attack fuels growing frustration in Kinshasa, where opposition voices criticize the government’s inability to safeguard civilians despite substantial military deployments and the ongoing, gradual withdrawal of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), initiated in 2024.
A complex security puzzle with no easy solutions
The reduction in UN peacekeeping presence has left a void that the FARDC are struggling to fill. In neighboring South Kivu and North Kivu, the resurgence of the M23—allegedly backed by Rwanda, according to UN expert reports—has diverted the bulk of Congo’s military resources. As a result, Ituri has become a secondary priority in Kinshasa’s security agenda, even as attacks in the province grow both in scale and frequency this year.
Humanitarian conditions have deteriorated sharply. Hundreds of thousands of displaced individuals now live in precarious camps around Bunia, the provincial capital, where aid organizations repeatedly warn of critical shortages in food and medical supplies. The recurrent destruction of entire villages, as seen in the latest attack, only exacerbates homelessness and weakens the rural economy.
For Kinshasa, the stakes extend beyond military concerns. Stabilizing Ituri is crucial for restoring central government credibility, securing trade corridors with East Africa, and enabling the peaceful exploitation of one of the continent’s richest mineral reserves. Until the ADF’s disruptive capabilities are neutralized, mining and logistics investors will remain hesitant, depriving the province of the investment needed for recovery. Preliminary reports suggest the death toll from the recent assault may rise in the coming hours.
