Democracy Dies in Darkness

In Congo’s forests, Islamic State money makes an insurgency more lethal

June 5, 2023 at 4:25 p.m. EDT
Congolese soldiers in May 2021 patrol the village of Mwenda, in northeast Congo, which had recently been attacked by the rebel Allied Democratic Forces. (Alexis Huguet/AFP/Getty Images)
6 min

KAMPALA, Uganda — An insurgent group founded in Uganda but now based in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has grown increasingly deadly after receiving money from the Islamic State, according to defectors and researchers tracking the group.

Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on four individuals in South Africa for transferring money on behalf of the Islamic State, including to armed groups in Congo and Mozambique. In January, U.S. troops killed Bilal al-Sudani, head of a major regional Islamic State office, in a raid in northern Somalia.