ADF acquires killer drones – UN reports

UPDF soldiers partrol Eastern DR Congo under Operation Shuuja in May 2024. PHOTO/ALEX ASHABA
What you need to know:
- In a report to the president of the United Nations Security Council (UN- SC), the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also called Da’esh, is helping ADF rebels to acquire advanced technologies for surveillance and to attack Operation Shujaa security personnel.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels have acquired improvised military drones and satellite communication systems to target or evade the soldiers pursuing them under Operation Shujaa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
In a report to the president of the United Nations Security Council (UN- SC), the Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo stated that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also called Da’esh, is helping ADF rebels to acquire advanced technologies for surveillance and to attack Operation Shujaa security personnel.
“Although ADF was significantly affected by Shujaa attacks, they have found ways of compensating for their diminished capacities through reliance on technology,” the UN report states.
The UN Group of Experts investigates and monitors restive eastern DRC annually. They publish a report that the UNSC bases on to take action on armed groups and governments violating the UN sanctions and human rights in east- ern DRC.
Uganda and DRC agreed to carry out joint attacks on ADF rebels in the east of the DRC in an pact dubbed Operation Shujaa. In December 2021, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) carried out air and artillery strikes on suspected bases of ADF in eastern DRC.
Uganda accuses the rebel group of carrying out terror attacks through bombings in Kampala City and in a bus on Kampala-Masaka Road that left six people dead and tens injured in November 2021.
The rebel group is also accused of killing 200 people in several terror attacks between July 2001 and now.
The UN report states: “Accounts from detained ADF collaborators, captured and surrendered combatants, and former hostages confirm that each ADF camp was equipped with small drones, primarily used for surveillance to scout new locations and targets, and to avoid threats. Drones were reported by eye- witnesses in the camps of Baluku,Tabani, Braida, Abwakasi, and Defender. Baluku and Braida had at least four drones each.”
The ADF leader, Seka Baluku, is sanctioned by the UN. Tabani, Braida, Abwakasi, and Defender are also commanders of the ADF.
The Group of Experts found out that “at least eight drones were supplied from Kampala, with support from Da’esh.”
The rebels attach explosives to commercial drones and then drop them on the chosen target.
Explosive-laden commercial drones have been widely used by fighters in wars in the Middle East, Ukraine and Russia. Even advanced countries are struggling to acquire technology that can deter deadly commercial drones from targeting victims and infrastructure.
On August 11, 2024, the ADF rebels carried out an improvised explosive de- vice (IED) attack on the Congolese army position near Beni Town in the DRC, where the UPDF is also deployed, but luckily the device didn’t detonate.
The UN Group of Experts said Da’esh is helping the ADF rebels to construct the drone-borne bombs.
Sources told the UN Group of Experts that they saw Meddie Nkalubo, alias Punisher, one of the top commanders of the ADF, construct the drone-borne IED, which was successfully tested.
“Although the ADF does not yet appear to have fully perfected the technology, the development of drone borne IEDs poses a significant new threat in the theatre of operations,” the report stated.
“According to accounts from former hostages and ex-combatants, these de- vices were intended for use against FARDC forces. Additionally, the same sources reported the ongoing fabrication of IEDs in each camp, indicating that threat from both conventional and drone-borne IEDs remains elevated, as the group continues to enhance its capabilities.”
When this newspaper contacted the Public Information Officer of the Rwenzori-based UPDF Mountain Division, Maj Bilal Katamba, he confirmed that ADF has drones and they are using them for surveillance when the joint operation troops move towards their camps.
“It is true they have drones. We have been tracking them in the jungles [of Congo]. We suspect they have drones to see us when we are going for physical contact with them,” Maj Katamba said.
Maj Katamba said the drones in ADF possession have not stopped the joint forces from hitting their positions, leaving many of their commanders and combatants dead while others have been captured.
The experts found out that the ADF re- bels have also acquired satellite dishes that they are using to access the Inter- net and make calls to their commanders to be able to evade detection by the joint military operation mobile phone tracking systems.
“ADF also used satellite communications to evade possible detection through usage of cell phone data,” the report stated. “Eyewitnesses – former hostages and former combatants – de- scribed the equipment as consisting of a small rectangular plate and a com- pact box, closely matching the specifications of a Star link device.”
The report stated that the use of satellite equipment has enhanced the communication between ADF commanders, their allies in and out of the DRC. These electronic devices have enabled the rebels and terrorist groups to increase the frequency of their propaganda campaign on the Internet. For instance, Da’esh has increased propaganda updates of their operations from a week to 24 hours last year compared to the previous year.
Maj Katamba said they are aware that the ADF has upgraded their technology to evade joint forces tracking them, but the UPDF’s technology is way more advanced than what the rebels have. “Our technology is way much superior. We are ahead of them,” he said. Since Operation Shujaa started, the ADF have been forced to flee their camps and territory they had control over. They are now moving away from the Operation Shujaa zones.
The UN report indicates that the fourth phase of Operation Shujaa, which was relaunched in May last year, has achieved more successes than the six-month phase before it. “…the intensified pressure from Shujaa operations has pushed the ADF to relocate its groups further north and south-west. This new territorial configuration suggests ADF’s intention to regroup in areas outside the official Shujaa zone, north of Ituri River and western Lubero,”the report states.
Lubero territory is near Lake Edward, a water body on the Uganda-DRC border. The area is partly occupied by Congolese M23 rebels, a Tutsi dominated rebel group, which the UN allege is backed by the Rwanda government.
UN experts also found evidence that the M23 and ADF rebel leaders held talks to have a non-aggression and collaboration pact. Both focus on fighting Congolese forces in Lubero territory.
The report indicates that M23 rebel leaders promised ADF financial and military support, in which ADF would receive 70 percent of Beni's cacao revenues for 10 years.
Maj Katamba declined to comment on whether they have information about the talks between the two rebel groups. He said it is his superiors who are in position to talk about it.
Efforts to get a comment from Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, the director of Defence Public Information in Uganda, were futile by press time.