ITURI, DR Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo
President, Felix Tshisekedi has authorised United States special forces to help
the Congolese army battle the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group
linked to ISIL (ISIS).The US troops are expected to boost the army's fight against ADF in the national parks of Virunga and Garamba
The ADF,
which the United States has deemed a “terrorist” group, is considered the
deadliest of dozens of armed militias that roam the mineral-rich eastern
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The Catholic
Church in the country says the ADF has killed about 6,000 civilians since 2013,
while a respected US-based monitor, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), blames it
for more than 1,200 deaths in the Beni area alone since 2017.
“President
Felix Tshisekedi authorised the deployment of American anti-terrorism experts
in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a statement from the
presidency on Sunday.
The US
forces will boost the Congolese army’s fight against ADF in the national parks
of Virunga and Garamba, it added.
The mission
will last several weeks and is specifically directed against the ADF.
US
Ambassador Mike Hammer, who presented the team to President Tshisekedi, said
its presence was part of a partnership agreed between the two countries in
2019, according to the presidency’s statement.
In March,
the US State Department said the ADF is notorious across the region for its
“brutal violence against Congolese citizens and regional military forces”. The
US has sanctioned alleged leader Seka Musa Baluku and said ISIL has
acknowledged the ADF as an affiliate since 2019.
Congolese
authorities’ crackdown against ADF has included a “state of siege”, in which
members of the security forces have replaced top officials in North Kivu and
neighbouring Ituri province.
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