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The Democratic Republic of the Congo: the Rise of Islamic Radicalism
 
PIIS086919080024138-8-1
DOI10.31857/S086919080024138-8
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Sergey Kostelyanets 
Occupation: Leading Researcher, Head, Centre for Sociological and Political Sciences Studies, Institute for African Studies, RAS; Senior Researcher, HSE University
Affiliation:
Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
HSE University
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Tatyana Denisova
Occupation: Leading Researcher, Head, Centre for Tropical Africa Studies, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Affiliation: Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow
Journal nameVostok. Afro-Aziatskie obshchestva: istoriia i sovremennost
EditionIssue 3
Pages149-161
Abstract

For over 60 years, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been in a state of political instability. There are dozens of rebel groups in the DRC that fight against the government and among themselves for control of human and natural resources. However, despite the enduring military and political crisis, which mostly affects the eastern regions of the country, the religious factor entered the stage only in the 2010s due to the onslaught of the terrorist group Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF), whose leaders in 2019 swore allegiance to the Islamic State and began to identify themselves as the Islamic State's Central Africa Province (ISCAP).

The present paper discusses the main milestones of the transformation of the ADF, which initially did not have a clear ideological and political program or sufficient combat power for independent attacks, into a large terrorist organization that poses a serious security threat to the DRC, Uganda, and a number of other African countries. The authors employ the theoretical and analytical framework and the systemic-historical method to characterize the activities of the ADF and conclude that, firstly, the transformation of the group was motivated above all by financial gain and, secondly, the “mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation” that takes place between the Islamists and local communities allows the group to carry out successful Islamization and recruitment of Congolese youth into its ranks, while the periodic operations of the armies of the DRC and Uganda aimed at destroying the group remain inconclusive.

KeywordsDRC, Uganda, Alliance of Democratic Forces, ADF, Islamism, terrorism, economy of war, Jamil Mukulu, Musa Baluku
AcknowledgmentThe research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant № 21-18-00123 'Analysis and modeling of African development in the context of Russian foreign policy interests'.
Received19.01.2023
Publication date02.07.2023
Number of characters35383
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Table of contents

ВВЕДЕНИЕ
ИСТОРИЯ ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИЯ АЬЯНСА ДЕМОКРАТИЧЕСКИХ СИЛ
МУСА БАЛУКУ И РАДИКАЛИЗАЦИЯ АДС
МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЕ КОНТАКТЫ АДС И ФОРМИРОВАНИЕ ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОАФРИКАНСКОЙ ПРОВИНЦИИ «ИСЛАМСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВА»
ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЕ
1

ВВЕДЕНИЕ
2 В 1996–1997 г. ДРК пережила конфликт, названный Первой конголезской войной, в 1998–2003 гг. – Вторую конголезскую войну, в которую были вовлечены армии по крайней мере девяти африканских государств (Анголы, Бурунди, Замбии, Зимбабве, Республики Конго, Руанды, Судана, Уганды, ЮАР) [см, например: Сидорова, 2013]. Поэтому подавляющая часть работ как российских, так и зарубежных авторов по различным аспектам истории ДРК была посвящена проблемам возникновения и разрешения конфликтов [Винокуров, 2003; Turner, 2007; Сидорова, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019; Babere, 2014; Мазов, 2015; Titeca, 2016; Кривушин, 2019; Точигин, 2021; Candland et al., 2021 и др.], однако религиозный аспект противостояния, в том числе и распространение в восточных районах ДРК исламского радикализма, удостоился пока незначительного внимания исследователей.
3 В доколониальный период большинство конголезцев исповедовали автохтонные религии, хотя после появления в регионе в 1860-е гг. европейских христианских миссий на побережье Атлантического океана возникло несколько христианских общин. В годы (1885–1908) существования Свободного государства Конго – по сути, личной вотчины бельгийского короля Леопольда II (1835 – 1909) – и в колониальный период (1908–1960) многие конголезцы стали католиками. В свою очередь, ислам на территории Конго примерно в XIX в. появился благодаря торговцам-мусульманам из Восточной Африки, но он почти не распространился по стране и в настоящее время примерно 97% населения исповедует христианство, мусульмане составляют около 1,3%, остальные – приверженцы традиционных религий [Congo, 2022].
4 Таким образом, ДРК – преимущественно христианское государство, поэтому, хотя с момента обретения независимости 30 июня 1960 г. в стране с бȯльшим или меньшим успехом действовали десятки антиправительственных вооруженных группировок, межконфессиональные противоречия играли весьма незначительную роль в возникновении и эскалации конфликтов вплоть до середины 2010-х гг., когда на конголезской территории ДРК активизировалась исламистская группировка Альянс демократических сил (АДС).
5 В настоящее время АДС считается единственной в ДРК «исламистской» террористической организацией, хотя мусульмане сражаются в рядах и других повстанческих группировок, в том числе различных фракций Конголезского объединения за демократию (КОД), действующего с 1998 г., и вооруженных отрядов «Май-май», распространившихся с конца 1990-х гг. по нескольким конголезским провинциям (Северное Киву, Южное Киву, Итури и др.). Эти группы осуществляют «оперативное сотрудничество» с АДС – проводят совместные набеги на населенные пункты и периодически вместе сражаются с регулярной армией ДРК [Mass Killings, 2017].
6 В 2010-е гг. несколько африканских исламистских повстанческих группировок («Боко Харам» и др.) присягнули на верность тогдашнему (2014–2019) халифу «Исламского государства» Абу Бакру аль-Багдади; их значение как организаций, представляющих угрозу безопасности стран континента, росло по мере ослабления основной фракции ИГ на Ближнем Востоке. С конца прошлого десятилетия АДС начал позиционировать себя в качестве филиала ИГ и одновременно – Центральноафриканской провинции «Исламского государства» (ЦАПИГ), распространившей свое влияние на восточные районы ДРК, в которых заметно повысился уровень насилия.

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