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Events of the year 2024 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
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| See also: | Other events of 2024 History of the DRC | ||||
Events of the year 2024 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo .
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The earliest known human settlements in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been dated back to the Middle Stone Age, approximately 90,000 years ago. The first real states, such as the Kongo, the Lunda, the Luba and Kuba, appeared south of the equatorial forest on the savannah from the 14th century onwards.
The Allied Democratic Forces is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It considered a terrorist organisation by the Ugandan government and the United States. It was originally based in western Uganda but has expanded into the neighbouring DRC. Most Ugandan ADF fighters are Muslims from the Baganda and Basoga ethnic groups.
The Ituri conflict is an ongoing low intensity asymmetrical conflict between the agriculturalist Lendu and pastoralist Hema ethnic groups in the Ituri region of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). While the two groups had fought since as early as 1972, the name "Ituri conflict" refers to the period of intense violence between 1999 and 2003. Armed conflict continues to the present day.
The Kivu conflict is an umbrella term for a series of protracted armed conflicts in the North Kivu and South Kivu provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo which have occurred since the end of the Second Congo War. Including neighboring Ituri province, there are more than 120 different armed groups active in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, some of the most active rebel groups include the Allied Democratic Forces, the Cooperative for the Development of the Congo, the March 23 Movement, and many local Mai Mai militias. In addition to rebel groups and the governmental FARDC troops, a number of national and international organizations have intervened militarily in the conflict, including the United Nations force known as MONUSCO, and an East African Community regional force.
The March 23 Movement, often abbreviated as M23 and also known as the Congolese Revolutionary Army, is a Congolese rebel military group. Based in eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), it operates mainly in the province of North Kivu, which borders both Uganda and Rwanda. The M23 rebellion of 2012 to 2013 against the DRC government led to the displacement of large numbers of people. On 20 November 2012, M23 took control of Goma, a provincial capital with a population of a million people, but it was requested to evacuate it by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region because the DRC government had finally agreed to negotiate. In late 2012, Congolese troops, along with UN troops, retook control of Goma, and M23 announced a ceasefire and said that it wanted to resume peace talks.
General Sultani Makenga is a Congolese leader and the military chief of the March 23 Movement (M23), a revolutionary group based in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Makenga is an ethnic Tutsi and was raised in North Kivu. He fought for the Rwandan Patriotic Front during the Rwandan Civil War.
The United Nations Force Intervention Brigade (FIB) is a military formation which constitutes part of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). It was authorized by the United Nations Security Council on 28 March 2013 through Resolution 2098. Although it is not the first instance in which the use of force was authorized by the UN, the Force Intervention Brigade is the first UN peacekeeping operation specifically tasked to carry out targeted offensive operations to "neutralize and disarm" groups considered a threat to state authority and civilian security. In this case, the main target was the M23 militia group, as well as other Congolese and foreign rebel groups. While such operations do not require the support of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC), the Force Intervention Brigade often acts in unison with the FARDC to disarm rebel groups.
The Allied Democratic Forces insurgency is an ongoing conflict waged by the Allied Democratic Forces in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, against the governments of those two countries and the MONUSCO. The insurgency began in 1996, intensifying in 2013, resulting in hundreds of deaths. The ADF is known to currently control a number of hidden camps which are home to about 2,000 people; in these camps, the ADF operates as a proto-state with "an internal security service, a prison, health clinics, and an orphanage" as well as schools for boys and girls.
The 2017 Semuliki attack was an attack carried out by elements of the Allied Democratic Forces on a United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) operating base in the Beni Territory, North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on December 7, 2017. The attack was highly coordinated and resulted in the deaths of fifteen U.N. peacekeeping personnel and wounds to 53 others making it the deadliest incident for the U.N. since the deaths of twenty-four Pakistani peacekeepers in an ambush in Somalia in 1993. The attack was among many of the latest flare-ups in violence in the North Kivu region which borders Uganda and Rwanda and one of the ADF's deadliest attacks in recent history. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres labeled the attack, "the worst attack on UN peacekeepers in the organization's recent history."
The 2020 Democratic Republic of the Congo attacks were a series of attacks which took place in 2020. The attacks were mostly carried out by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a radical Islamist rebel group and the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO), an agricultural and religious group made up of ethnic Lendu people. The attacks left at least 1,316 people dead and 132 injured.
CODECO is a loose association of various Lendu militia groups operating within the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The name is an abbreviation of the group's lesser-known full name, the Cooperative for Development of the Congo, sometimes also styled the Congo Economic Development Cooperative.
Attacks were carried out by various armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2021 and 2022. The attacks have killed 629 and injured 321. At least 82 perpetrators were also killed and one injured in these attacks.
In late March 2022, the March 23 Movement (M23), supported by Rwanda, launched an offensive in North Kivu against the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and MONUSCO. The fighting displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians and caused renewed tensions between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
Beginning in 2022, tensions heightened between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, marking a significant breakdown in relations between the two countries. Amid this, Rwandan forces have crossed into the DRC multiple times, usually fighting alongside Congolese rebels.
Events of the year 2023 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Kishishe massacre occurred from November 29 to December 1, 2022, in the North Kivu village of Kishishe in the Rutshuru Territory in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The March 23 Movement, a predominantly Tutsi armed group, summarily killed at least 131 civilians in Kishishe following clashes with local militias, according to a preliminary United Nations investigation. At the same time, the Kinshasa authorities had previously reported approximately 300 fatalities. The attack also resulted in the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people who were forced to flee to other locations such as Kanyabayonga, Kibirizi, Kashala, Kirima, Nyanzale, Kashalira, Bambu, and Kitchanga. Some victims also sought refuge in neighboring countries due to the ongoing violence and instability in the region.
Between January 24 and 26, 2023, M23 rebels and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) soldiers fought over the city of Kitshanga. The battle was part of the renewed M23 offensive, and ended on January 26 with M23 forces capturing the city. Civilians accused both M23 and FARDC-aligned militias of war crimes during and after the battle.
The Second battle of Kitshanga broke out between Rwandan-backed M23 fighters and self-defense groups known as Wazalendo allied with the Congolese government. In January 2023, M23 rebels captured Kitshanga from the Congolese Army and allied forces in their renewed offensive in North Kivu. Wazalendo forces captured Kitshanga in early October 2023 as part of a counteroffensive, with the city switching hands between Wazalendo and the M23 after October 16, and a second M23 offensive on October 21 capturing the town.
On October 24, 2020, militants from CODECO-ALC attacked Congolese and MONUSCO forces in the town of Dele, Ituri Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In response, Congolese forces launched an offensive against CODECO-ALC, capturing several towns from the group and killing its leader Mountain Wolf.
Operation Shujaa is an ongoing military offensive conducted by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda against insurgent forces in Kivu and Ituri, mainly Islamic State (IS) affiliates and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). Launched in November 2021, it has resulted in significant losses for the targeted rebel forces and substantially reduced their activity. At times, the government forces engaged in Operation Shujaa have also fought non-ADF/IS rebel groups.
