A report issued on Tuesday stated that the Allied Democratic Forces, an ISIS-linked movement that is rampant in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, relies primarily on gold production and smuggling to finance its armed operations.
The report, issued by the US-based investigative organization “The Sentry”, stated that the group earns between one million and $1.6 million annually from gold mining sites in only one area within the “North Kivu” province. He pointed out that smuggling operations take place through local commercial centers in eastern Congo, later reaching gold refineries and export networks in neighboring Uganda.
Although Uganda has deployed thousands of soldiers in Congo to confront the group alongside local forces, the Allied Democratic Forces have proven highly resilient and firmly rooted in local economic networks. The Sentry confirmed that these revenues have enabled the group to reduce its financial dependence on ISIS since late 2024, coinciding with the imposition of US sanctions that targeted the main elements responsible for facilitating the work of its networks.
In addition to gold, the report noted that the group’s fighters make additional profits from cocoa production, extortion activities, and kidnapping.
In the same context, Justina Godzowska, Executive Director of The Sentry, said that the group continues to adapt to military pressures and sanctions by developing new financing methods, identifying trade in gold and other resources as the most prominent sources of income, and called on the governments concerned to take action to cut off its sources of funding.
On the other hand, there have been no comments yet from the spokespersons of the Ugandan army, the Ugandan government and the Congolese government on requests for comment.
