Congo. ADF Top Commander captured after return from Burundi.
On January 9, FARDC and UPDF joint military operation in Uvira, South Kivu, east of the DRC led to the capture of Bejamin Kisolorania, a Top Commander of the Ugandan Islamic group Alliance of Democratic Forces — ADF.
The capture of Kisolorania represents a severe blow to the Ugandan terrorist group. Kisolorania is one of ADF original members during the time of founder Jamilu Mukulu and he was responsible for the ADF’s entire international financial network.
Kisolorania was arrested on his return from Burundi where he had gone to make military agreements with the HutuPower genocidal forces to start new wars to control Congolese natural resources and to increase instability in eastern Congo.
On Sunday 9 January a joint operation of the Congolese (FARDC) and Ugandan (UPDF) armies in Uvira, South Kivu, east of the Democratic Republic of Congo led to the arrest of Bejamin Kisolorania, a Top Commander of the Ugandan Islamic group Alliance of Democratic Forces — ADF. The terrorist was arrested at the Uvira border on his return from Bujumbura, Burundi.
The capture was the work of Congolese Major General Mandiangu and Ugandan General Muhanga as part of the joint operation against the ADF in eastern Congo: Operation Shujaa (courage in kiswahili).
The news of Kisolorania’s arrest had been circulating on social media since 10th January but, finding no official confirmation, the media waited to spread it. It was Major Peter Mugisa, spokesman for the UPDF mountain division who only recently confirmed the capture of the dangerous terrorist. Now Kisolorania is in the custody of the Congolese army and will soon be extradited to Uganda.
The capture of Kisolorania represents a severe blow to the Ugandan terrorist group. Kisokorania is one of the original members of the Allied Democratic Forces during the time of founder Jamilu Mukulu and was responsible for the ADF’s entire international financial network.
While details on the arrest of the ADF commander are still scarce, the event will strengthen the ongoing joint operation by the UPDF and the Congolese army, FADRC targeting ADF hiding places.
The news also comes just a week after the arrest of a prominent ADF recruiter, Banza Madjaribu, who is also the brother of the terrorist group’s de facto commander, Imam Zakaria Banza Souleymane. Madjaribu is believed to have organized a recruiting network for ADF using his many minibuses and motorcycles to transport the recruits to Beni Forest through Butembo in North Kivu.
The ADF has operated for several years in volatile North Kivu which borders other provinces including Ituri Province to the north and South Kivu Province to the south, areas that have been a battleground for several rival armed ethnic groups since 1998. The province is made up of three cities including; Goma, Butembo and Beni as well as six territories: Beni, Lubero, Masisi, Rutshuru.
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the ADF, which has been designated as a terrorist group by the US government, has now adopted the name of Madina a Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen (City of Monotheism and Holy Warriors) to emphasize its current ties. to the Islamic State — DAESH.
In 2019, the DAESH claimed responsibility for an ADF attack and first referred to a “Central African province”. The organization is led by Musa Baluku, who served as the ADF’s senior Islamic legal officer before consolidating power after Mukulu’s arrest in 2015. In October and November 2021, the DAESH claimed responsibility for the series of attacks in Kampala.
Since 1 December 2021, the Ugandan Congo joint forces have launched air and artillery attacks against the ADF camps. The Kambi Ya Yua camp contained at least 600 terrorists. It measured over eight acres in width and also contained a workshop for the manufacture of bombs and guns.
Kambi ya Yua is a hilly site in the middle of a jungle that runs over 100km from Uganda deep within the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No human settlement, no access road, no open space. It is one of the places that still escape civilization and it is inconceivable that human beings live and survive there. Yet this is the place within the DRC where the ADF have established their main base for military training, bomb assembly and youth indoctrination.
When the UPDF, supported by the FARDC, reached and occupied the camp, they found it deserted and most of the evidence of its plans and operations destroyed or taken away. However, the UPDF captured documents that provided a picture of the role this field played in ADF operations.
Also the circumstances and place of Bejamin’s arrest Kisolorania are very interesting. The terrorist leader was returning from Burundi where he had gone a few days earlier. To do what?
To meet the leaders of the Burundian military junta and the Rwandan terrorist group FDLR, according to local sources. The ADF were ready to join the invasion contingent that is fighting the Burundian armed opposition of the Red Tabara in South Kivu from Burundi.
The contingent is made up of units from the Burundian regular army, the Imbonerakure militia, the FDLR terrorists and two Congolese militias: Maï-Maï Gumino and Maï-Maï Twigwaneho. The operations, hitherto tolerated by the Kinshasa government, began in December 2021.
The latest fights took place on Saturday 15 January at the Kitoga town in South Kivu. According to the press release issued by the Burundian armed opposition Red Tabara, the invasion contingent suffered heavy losses, opting for the retreat, during which the Burundian soldiers burned several houses in the village of Kitoga. Neither the invasion nor the ongoing fighting in South Kivu are officially mentioned by the respective governments of Burundi and Congo.
The destruction of several terrorist bases and the arrest of Bejamin Kisolorania are important victories recorded by the Congo thanks to the Ugandan army. Yet the mission to annihilate the ADF terrorists remains problematic. The big challenge is how to supply the troops with food, ammunition, medicine, etc. in almost inaccessible places. An expensive operation only possible via helicopters.
In addition, there is the military partner reliability issue. The Kinshasa government is unable to provide trusted, well-armed, trained and combat-ready troops. The Congolese army looks more like a Brancaleone Army rather than a modern army.
Excluding President Felix Tshisekedi (who made his promise to the nation of the restoration of peace and the rule of law in the eastern provinces), the majority of Kinshasa’s political and military elite consider the permanent war and the presence of foreign armies in the east as an annoying inconvenience. For this elite, the situation in DRC east provinces does not represent a threat to their power. Therefore, the war on the east is an irritation that Kinshasa can live with.
