CONFLICT WATCH — Eastern DR Congo · Conflict finance and civilian protection

(North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo) — A new investigation by The Sentry says the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) has shifted toward gold mining and smuggling as its main source of financing, embedding the armed group in commercial networks that reach from eastern Congo into Uganda.

The October 27 report estimates that the ADF could generate about US$1 million to US$1.6 million a year from gold sites in the Manguredjipa area alone. The estimate is not an audited mine total: The Sentry says it modelled the range from revenue shares observed among other armed groups in Congo and comparable conflict settings.

Gold, coercion and a dispersed insurgency

The Sentry says its investigation drew on more than 100 interviews with miners, traders, transporters, smugglers, financiers, former hostages, security officials, civil-society actors and other sources, alongside documentary research. It describes a conflict-gold corridor running from Manguredjipa through Mambasa to Bafwasende, across parts of North Kivu, Ituri and Tshopo.

According to the report, traders, transporters and intermediaries move gold through rural and urban hubs toward Uganda. The organization alleges that gold now provides most of the ADF’s financing, followed by cocoa production, racketeering and kidnapping, after external funding linked to Islamic State declined from late 2024.

Reuters separately reported that a representative of a Congolese mining cooperative said ADF fighters had abducted miners and prospectors and forced them to extract, transport and sell gold. The representative, who requested anonymity for security reasons, also said some residents cooperated for payment. TNC has not independently interviewed the cooperative or inspected the mining sites.

The Sentry estimates that the ADF had 600 to 700 combatants and about 2,000 dependants as of February 2026. Those are estimates for that date, not a current census. The report says abduction supplies labour, recruits and dependants while dispersed units allow the group to move between forest and mining corridors.

Civilians bear the cost

The financing findings matter because the ADF has repeatedly attacked civilians across eastern Congo. The Sentry says the group has been responsible for thousands of civilian deaths over years of violence. In August, Radio Okapi reported that civil society in Bapere sector attributed more than 2,400 civilian deaths over two years to ADF attacks, with the Manguredjipa axis among the worst affected. That figure is an attributed civil-society estimate, not a judicial finding or an independently verified TNC count.

Local reporting also shows how insecurity has interrupted everyday life. ACTUALITE.CD reported in January that schools around Manguredjipa and Byambwe remained paralysed after armed attacks. Those reports do not prove the new financial estimate, but they document the civilian consequences in the same wider area.

Military pressure has not ended the threat

Congolese and Ugandan forces began joint operations against the ADF in late 2021. The Sentry and Reuters say those operations secured important cities and trade routes and broke up some strongholds, but pushed smaller ADF units into more remote, resource-rich areas rather than eliminating the group.

The report also alleges that Uganda’s military presence overlaps with Ugandan economic interests in regional trade and gold. Uganda’s government and army, as well as Congo’s government, did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment before publication. Their lack of an immediate response is not proof that every allegation in the report is established.

The Sentry says it found no conclusive evidence of direct operational collaboration between the ADF and the Rwanda-backed M23 movement. Treating the two as one force would be inaccurate. The report argues instead that pressure on multiple fronts limits the Congolese military’s ability to sustain operations against both.

Following the commercial chain

The Sentry recommends investigations into traders, intermediaries, refiners, exporters and financial facilitators that knowingly or negligently move conflict gold. It also calls for stronger civilian strategies, including community dispute-resolution programs and economic alternatives for young people vulnerable to recruitment.

Those are policy recommendations from the organization, not measures that governments have adopted. The practical questions are whether authorities can protect mining communities, trace gold through trading and refining networks, and reduce the coercion and economic vulnerability that armed groups exploit.

How this report was checked

TNC reviewed The Sentry’s full October report and October 27 press release, Reuters’ October 27 reporting, and local reporting from Radio Okapi and ACTUALITE.CD for civilian context. The financial estimate and allegations about trafficking routes remain attributed to The Sentry. Reuters supplied independent reporting from a mining-cooperative representative and recorded the governments’ non-response by publication time.

This article is based on published reporting and documents. TNC conducted no original interviews, field visit or outreach.

Sources and reporting dates

Cover: Editorial illustration of artisanal mining and conflict-finance routes in eastern DR Congo. It does not depict a specific mine, identifiable people or a documented incident.