Islamic State – Central Africa Province

Following its seizure of much territory in Syria as well as Iraq, and its proclamation of a restored caliphate, the Islamic State (IS) became internationally well known and an attractive ally to Salafi jihadist Islamist extremist and terrorist groups around the world. Several rebel groups in West Africa, Somalia and the Sahara swore allegiance to IS; these factions grew in importance as IS's core faction in the Middle East declined. Despite the growing importance of pro-IS groups in western, northern, and eastern Africa, no major IS faction sprang up in central and southern Africa for years.[2] A faction known as the "Islamic State in Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda" was set up in April 2016, but was only active in Somalia as well as Kenya for a short time.[3]

In October 2017, a video which showed a small number of militants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who claimed to be members of the "City of Monotheism and Monotheists" (MTM) group was posted on pro-IS channels. The leader of the militants went on to say that "this is Dar al-Islam of the Islamic State in Central Africa" and he asked other like-minded individuals to travel to MTM territory, join the militants and fight the war against the government. The Long War Journal noted that though this pro-IS group in Congo appeared to be very small, its emergence had gained a notable amount of attention from IS sympathizers.[4] There were subsequently disputes about the nature of MTM. The Congo Research Group (CRG) argued in 2018 that MTM was in fact part of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist group that has waged an insurgency in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo as well as neighboring Uganda for decades. Some experts believed that the ADF had begun to cooperate with IS, and that MTM was its attempt to publicly garner support from Islamic State loyalists.[5] IS-Central probably began to finance the ADF through a Kenyan Waleed Ahmed Zein, in this year.[6] IS's self-proclaimed caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi first mentioned a "Central Africa Province" in a speech in August 2018, suggesting that this branch already existed beforehand.[7]

By mid-2018, the African Union claimed that Islamic State militants had infiltrated northern Mozambique, where the Islamist rebels of Ansar al-Sunna[lower-alpha 1] had already waged an insurgency since 2017.[9] In May 2018, some Mozambican rebels posted a photo of themselves posing with a black flag which was used by IS, but also other Jihadist groups. Overall, the presence of IS in Mozambique remained disputed at the time,[8] and the country's police strongly denied that Islamic State loyalists were active in the area.[10]

Map of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, one of IS-CAP's main areas of activity. Beni is located in North Kivu near the Ugandan border.

Several Jihadist news outlets such as the Amaq News Agency, Nashir News Agency, and Al-Naba newsletter declared in April 2019 that the Islamic State's "Central Africa Province" had carried out attacks in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. This marked the first time that IS-CAP had actually emerged as a tangible entity.[7][11] The first purported raids by IS's Central Africa Province targeted the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) at the village of Kamango and a military base at Bovata on 18 April; both localities are near Beni, close to the border with Uganda.[2] It remained unclear how many militants in the Congo had actually joined IS;[7] journalist Sunguta West regarded the declaration of the Central Africa Province as an attempt by a weakened IS "to boost its ego and project strength" after its defeats in Syria and Iraq.[12] A photo released by the Al-Naba newsletter showed about 15 purported IS-CAP members. The Defense Post argued that one splinter faction of the ADF had possibly joined IS-CAP, while the ADF's official leadership had made no bay'ah ("oath of allegiance") to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi or IS in general.[7] Researcher Marcel Heritier Kapiteni generally doubted whether Islamic State followers had been involved in the attacks at all, arguing that IS-CAP might be no more than a propaganda tool in a "media war". According to him, "DRC's terrain is not socially favorable to radical Islam".[13] However, a propaganda video was published in June 2019 that showed ADF leader Musa Baluku pledging allegiance to IS.[14]

On 4 June 2019, IS claimed that its Central African Province had carried out a successful attack on the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces (FADM) at Mitopy in the Mocímboa da Praia District, Mozambique.[15] At least 16 people were killed and about 12 wounded during the attack. By this point, IS considered Ansar al-Sunna as one its affiliates, though how many Islamist rebels in Mozambique were actually loyal to IS remained unclear.[16] The Defense Post argued that it was impossible to judge whether the attack had been carried out by IS-CAP or another armed group due to the lack of information on the rebels in Mozambique. In any case, the Mozambique police once again denied that any IS elements were active in the country.[8] In October 2019, IS-CAP carried out two ambushes against Mozambican security forces and allied Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in Cabo Delgado Province, reportedly killing 27 soldiers.[17] In contrast to its growing presence in Mozambique, IS-CAP's operations in the Congo remained small in scale and number by late 2019. Researcher Nicholas Lazarides argued that this proved the ADF's non-alignment with IS, suggesting that IS-CAP was indeed just a splinter faction.[18] Accordingly, the Central Africa Province's main importance laid in its propaganda value and its future potential to grow through its connections with the well-established, well-known IS core group.[19]

The Central Africa Province officially pledged allegiance to IS's new caliph Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi on 7 November 2019.[20] On 7 April 2020, IS-CAP fighters massacred 52 civilians in Xitaxi village of northern Mozambique when they refused to join their forces. Later that month, the Mozambican authorities admitted for the first time that Islamic State followers were active in the country.[21] On 27 June, IS-CAP troops occupied the town of Mocímboa da Praia for a short time, causing many locals to flee.[22] The Islamic State's al-Naba newsletter consequently touted IS-CAP's alleged successes in Mozambique, claiming that the "Crusader Mozambique army" and the "mercenaries of the Crusader Russian intelligence apparatus" (a.k.a. the Wagner Group) were being driven back by the local Islamic State forces.[23] By this time, South Africa had sent special forces to assist the Mozambican security forces against the rebels, including IS-CAP.[24]

In addition, IS-CAP greatly increased its attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with 33 operations from mid-April to July. Its most notable strike took place on 22 June, when Islamic State fighters ambushed Indonesian MONUSCO peacekeepers near Beni, killing one and injuring another.[25] On 11 August 2020, IS-CAP defeated the Mozambique Defence Armed Forces and once more managed to take over the town of Mocimboa da Praia in a major offensive. The Jihadists also proclaimed to have captured several other settlements as well as two military bases around the town, seizing significant amounts of weaponry and ammunition.[26] The rebels subsequently declared Mocímboa da Praia the capital of their province, and further expanded their holdings by capturing several islands in the Indian Ocean during September, with Vamizi Island being the most prominent. All locals were forced to leave the islands, and the local luxury hotels were all torched.[27] At this point, IS-CAP had become one of the "most significant provinces" of IS in Africa.[28]

In September 2020, a propaganda video was published in which Musa Baluku declared that the ADF had ceased to exist and had been succeeded by IS-CAP.[29] At this point, a "major faction" of the ADF had joined Baluku in becoming part of IS,[30] while a smaller splinter remained loyal to the ideals of ex-ADF leader Jamil Mukulu.[31] The International Crisis Group contended that the rival factions had also split geographically, with some elements moving to the Rwenzori Mountains, while others had relocated into Ituri Province.[32]

On 20 October, IS-CAP forces managed to free over 1,335 prisoners at Kangbayi central prison in Beni, making this attack one of the largest IS prison breakouts in years.[33] Despite such successes, the Congolese IS-CAP had not been able to significantly expand its presence by late 2020.[34] In contrast, IS-CAP took part in an assault on the town of Palma in Mozambique in late March 2021. Even though the rebels retreated from the settlement after the Mozambican security forces counter-attacked in early April, the battle left Palma mostly destroyed and a large number of civilians dead. IS-CAP retreated with much loot, and the conflict observatory Cabo Ligado concluded that the battle was an overall victory for the rebels.[35]

MONUSCO-FARDC patrol near Mutwanga, guarding the area against ADF/IS-CAP attacks, April 2021.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bombings in June 2021. In Beni, a Ugandan man detonated explosives at a busy intersection, while two people were injured when an explosive device was detonated inside a Catholic church.[36] According to a Congolese military spokesman, the suicide bomber was identified as an ADF member, showing the group's allegiance to IS-CAP. The bombings were the first of their kind in Beni, leading to worries that IS-CAP was increasingly using typical Islamic State tactics. The Congolese government closed major public spaces for two days and imposed restrictions on public meetings as a precaution against further attacks.[37] In August 2021, joint Mozambican-Rwandan forces were able to retake Mocímboa da Praia as part of an offensive.[38] The Mozambican IS-CAP forces relocated their headquarters to the "Siri" base near Messalo River.[39]

However, while the Mozambican IS-CAP branch was retreating, the Congolese IS loyalists were expanding their area of operations as part of two offensives in Ituri Province. The Congolese IS-CAP also began involve itself in the Ituri conflict's local disputes, siding with Banyabwisha (a Hutu group) against other local ethnic groups, causing one village of Banyabwisha to declare allegiance to the Islamic State. The group also began to more actively proselytize locals to convert them to Islam. The Long War Journal researchers Caleb Weiss and Ryan O'Farrell argued that this might hint at an attempt by IS-CAP to build a genuine local support base which the older ADF had traditionally lacked.[40] On 8 October, IS-CAP claimed its first attack in Uganda when its forces bombed a police post in Kawempe. This marked that start of a bombing campaign in and around Kampala lasting until November, as IS affiliates and one ADF member launched several suicide attacks.[41][42] Meanwhile, security forces arrested a group of suspected IS-CAP members in Rwanda's capital Kigali; Weiss and O'Farrell speculated that this group had planned attacks in "revenge" for the Rwandan operations against the Mozambican IS forces.[42] Overall, the Congolese branch appears to have undergone a transformation in the course of 2021, adapting its strategies to match those of IS more closely. It also greatly increased its attacks on civilians.[6]

By the end of 2021, IS-CAP had suffered major setbacks in Mozambique, having lost most of its holdings and many members. However, the group reorganized as splinter cells and continued to wage a guerrilla campaign in early 2022.[43] In April 2022, IS-CAP's Congolese branch released a video message, showing the group pledging allegiance to Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi who had been appointed as new IS caliph after the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. In the video, Musa Baluku declared that IS-CAP was undeterred by the deaths of its leaders and would continue its insurgency.[44] By mid-2022, the Congolese branch of IS-CAP was described as being much more active as in previous years.[45] The province was reportedly reorganized by the IS central command in May, with the Congolese and Mozambican branches being declared autonomous.[46]

In October 2022, IS-CAP made headlines when militants attacked a Catholic mission in the village of Maboya, setting fire to infrastructure, including a hospital. A Catholic nun, Marie-Sylvie Kavuke Vakatsuraki, was burned to death in the hospital, where she worked as a doctor. A patient also died.[47] At this point, the Congolese forces of IS-CAP had greatly increased their area of operations, grown in numbers, and freed over 2,000 prisoners. The Mozambican IS forces were still focused on surviving the continuing counter-insurgency operations.[46]