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Allied Democratic Forces
The Allied Democratic Forces (French: Forces démocratiques alliées; abbreviated ADF) is a Ugandan Islamist rebel group formerly based in western Uganda and currently operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Some refer to the group as IS-DRC as a chapter of IS-CAP, but this term is broader and tends to include non-ADF rebels. It is considered a terrorist organization by the Ugandan government and the United States. The group is sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations Security Council. Originally based in western Uganda, the ADF has expanded into eastern DRC where nearly all of its fighting has occurred. Most ADF fighters are Ugandan Muslims from the Baganda and Basoga ethnic groups. The ADF was the second-deadliest non-state actor against civilians in 2025.
Since the late 1990s, the ADF has operated in the Congo's North Kivu province near the border with Uganda. While repeated military offensives against the ADF have severely affected it, the ADF has been able to regenerate because its recruitment and financial networks have remained intact. Some of the attacks it has been blamed for also appear to have been committed by other rebel groups as well as the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC).
The ADF's leadership shifted after the imprisonment of its leader Jamil Mukulu on April 30, 2015. Musa Seka Baluku, Mukulu's second-in-command since 1995, stepped forward in his place shortly after. Under Baluku's leadership, the group began connecting with IS as early as 2017, were formally recognized as a chapter of IS-CAP in 2018, and formally pledged their allegiance to the group in 2019. By 2019, the ADF had split, with one part remaining loyal to Mukulu, while the other had merged into the Islamic State's Central Africa Province under Baluku.
They initially established their base of operations in the Rwenzori Mountains of western Uganda The ADF chose western Uganda apparently for three reasons: terrain that is ideal for a rural insurgency, proximity to the DRC where the rebels could set up bases and recruit fighters, and the presence of some Ugandan ethnic groups unfriendly to the government that could offer assistance. It received support from the government of Sudan, which was engaged in disputes with the government of Uganda.
Former leader Jamil Mukulu was born a Christian but converted to Islam following his adoption of the doctrine of Salafism while completing his studies in Saudi Arabia. Prior to moving back to Africa, he briefly spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan where he received military training and became an associate of Osama bin Laden. According to a news report by the Uganda Daily Monitor on August 3, 2015, Hajj Nsereko Mutumba, the spokesman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) at the time, believed that "when the young Muslims, many of who had travelled and studied in Saudi Arabia, came back to Uganda, they came back with a lot of vigour and sought [to] fight [for] many of these [Salafi] practices." Emphasizing the impacts of universities on this revitalization, Mutumba specifically recounts that "thus was the case with Jamil Mukulu. He studied Islam and immersed himself with the religion['s] doctrines to an extent that he even started passing Fatwas."
Mukulu was located in the neighborhood of Nakasero during a tight and disputed election of the Old Kampala Mosque's Mufti in 1982. The election was headed by Sheikh Obedi Kamulegeya and Sheikh Kassim Mulumba, promoting Sheikh Saad Luwemba and Sheikh Rajab Kakooza respectively. Luwemba was believed to be pro-Museveni and held religious views promoting last rites and Duwas, which were asymmetrical with those of Muslims in Nakasero. The disputed election was brought to court, during which Kakooza led an interim leadership.
On March 22, 1991, the day the court planned to release the verdict of Luwemba's election, Mukulu led around 1,000 of his followers to attack the UMSC's offices in Old Kampala. Four police officers were killed while Mukulu and between 431 and 434 of his Tablighi followers were jailed in the violent attack.
It is believed that during his time in Luzira prison, Mukulu and his close colleagues would plan the establishment of a resistance movement and possibly an Islamic State. Upon begin released in 1993 after being acquitted of murder, Mukulu and most of the jailed rebels formed the Salaf Foundation alongside associates in the Salafi and Tablighi movements. Mukulu would go on to found the Uganda Muslim Freedom Fighters (UMFF), the military wing of the Salafi Foundation, shortly after, aimed specifically at rebellion against Museveni's government. The UMFF established its base of operations in Buseruka in western Uganda.
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Allied Democratic Forces
The Allied Democratic Forces (French: Forces démocratiques alliées; abbreviated ADF) is a Ugandan Islamist rebel group formerly based in western Uganda and currently operating in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Some refer to the group as IS-DRC as a chapter of IS-CAP, but this term is broader and tends to include non-ADF rebels. It is considered a terrorist organization by the Ugandan government and the United States. The group is sanctioned by the United States and the United Nations Security Council. Originally based in western Uganda, the ADF has expanded into eastern DRC where nearly all of its fighting has occurred. Most ADF fighters are Ugandan Muslims from the Baganda and Basoga ethnic groups. The ADF was the second-deadliest non-state actor against civilians in 2025.
Since the late 1990s, the ADF has operated in the Congo's North Kivu province near the border with Uganda. While repeated military offensives against the ADF have severely affected it, the ADF has been able to regenerate because its recruitment and financial networks have remained intact. Some of the attacks it has been blamed for also appear to have been committed by other rebel groups as well as the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC).
The ADF's leadership shifted after the imprisonment of its leader Jamil Mukulu on April 30, 2015. Musa Seka Baluku, Mukulu's second-in-command since 1995, stepped forward in his place shortly after. Under Baluku's leadership, the group began connecting with IS as early as 2017, were formally recognized as a chapter of IS-CAP in 2018, and formally pledged their allegiance to the group in 2019. By 2019, the ADF had split, with one part remaining loyal to Mukulu, while the other had merged into the Islamic State's Central Africa Province under Baluku.
They initially established their base of operations in the Rwenzori Mountains of western Uganda The ADF chose western Uganda apparently for three reasons: terrain that is ideal for a rural insurgency, proximity to the DRC where the rebels could set up bases and recruit fighters, and the presence of some Ugandan ethnic groups unfriendly to the government that could offer assistance. It received support from the government of Sudan, which was engaged in disputes with the government of Uganda.
Former leader Jamil Mukulu was born a Christian but converted to Islam following his adoption of the doctrine of Salafism while completing his studies in Saudi Arabia. Prior to moving back to Africa, he briefly spent time in Afghanistan and Pakistan where he received military training and became an associate of Osama bin Laden. According to a news report by the Uganda Daily Monitor on August 3, 2015, Hajj Nsereko Mutumba, the spokesman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) at the time, believed that "when the young Muslims, many of who had travelled and studied in Saudi Arabia, came back to Uganda, they came back with a lot of vigour and sought [to] fight [for] many of these [Salafi] practices." Emphasizing the impacts of universities on this revitalization, Mutumba specifically recounts that "thus was the case with Jamil Mukulu. He studied Islam and immersed himself with the religion['s] doctrines to an extent that he even started passing Fatwas."
Mukulu was located in the neighborhood of Nakasero during a tight and disputed election of the Old Kampala Mosque's Mufti in 1982. The election was headed by Sheikh Obedi Kamulegeya and Sheikh Kassim Mulumba, promoting Sheikh Saad Luwemba and Sheikh Rajab Kakooza respectively. Luwemba was believed to be pro-Museveni and held religious views promoting last rites and Duwas, which were asymmetrical with those of Muslims in Nakasero. The disputed election was brought to court, during which Kakooza led an interim leadership.
On March 22, 1991, the day the court planned to release the verdict of Luwemba's election, Mukulu led around 1,000 of his followers to attack the UMSC's offices in Old Kampala. Four police officers were killed while Mukulu and between 431 and 434 of his Tablighi followers were jailed in the violent attack.
It is believed that during his time in Luzira prison, Mukulu and his close colleagues would plan the establishment of a resistance movement and possibly an Islamic State. Upon begin released in 1993 after being acquitted of murder, Mukulu and most of the jailed rebels formed the Salaf Foundation alongside associates in the Salafi and Tablighi movements. Mukulu would go on to found the Uganda Muslim Freedom Fighters (UMFF), the military wing of the Salafi Foundation, shortly after, aimed specifically at rebellion against Museveni's government. The UMFF established its base of operations in Buseruka in western Uganda.