March 26, 2016: Terrorists target soldiers in the DRC

MPITI, DRC – the numbers of groups and individuals who turn to terrorist tactics never ceases to amaze.

If I had to guess I’d imagine that when most people are asked to name a terrorist group the ‘usual cast of characters’ comes to the fore: the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organisation) – well at least historically – AQ (Al Qaeda), ISIS (Islamic State), etc. The fact that all are Islamist in nature tells us something (actually it tells us rather a lot!).

Of course not all terrorists and violent extremist organisations are Islamist, no matter what Ann Coulter tries to tell us. No, modern terrorism far predates the Islamist variety and there have been a large number of causes and crusades that have led some to use violence in the name of that cause.

Today’s featured attack is a very good example.

On this day in 2016

Members of the Alliance of Patriots for a Free and Sovereign Congo (APCLS), also known as Alliance des patriotes pour un Congo libre et souverain, killed two Congolese soldiers and wounded a third in Mpati, located in North Kivu Province in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Yes the DRC which is nowhere near the ‘traditional’ terrorist areas of concentration.

APCLS is a well-established militia/terrorist group which has the expressed objective to protect Hunde and other Congolese citizens, i.e., non-Tutsis, in its area of operations. It was formed in 2006 and was the only major armed group that refused to sign the Goma Accords (inked in January 2008 between the Congolese government and 22 armed groups). It claims about 1,500 fighters, organised into four brigades. 

Terrorists, militias, ‘freedom fighters‘…does it really matter? If the underlying motive is political and you are not a state actor you fall into the terrorism category. It is not that complicated.

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