An Islamic State (IS)-linked armed group operating in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is financing much of its insurgency through illegal gold mining and smuggling, reducing its dependence on external funding despite years of military operations against it, according to a report released on Tuesday.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has been blamed for thousands of civilian deaths over the past decade, generates an estimated $1 million to $1.6 million annually from gold mining operations in one area of North Kivu province alone, the US-based investigative organisation The Sentry said.
The investigation found that gold extracted from areas under ADF influence passes through trading centres in eastern Congo before reaching refining facilities and export networks in neighbouring Uganda.
The illicit trade has become the group’s primary source of income, allowing it to maintain its operations despite international sanctions and military pressure.
According to The Sentry, the ADF has increasingly relied on locally generated revenue since late 2024, when US sanctions disrupted financial networks connecting the insurgency to Islamic State.
Beyond gold, the group raises funds through cocoa production, extortion, kidnapping and other illegal activities.
The organisation warned that these revenue streams have enabled the insurgents to sustain their operations while expanding their involvement in local economic networks.
Justyna Gudzowska, executive director of The Sentry, said governments must increase efforts to dismantle the financial infrastructure supporting the insurgency.
She urged international authorities to target those facilitating the trade, including financiers, gold dealers and intermediaries involved in moving illegally sourced minerals.
Military operations fail to eliminate insurgency
Originally established in Uganda during the 1990s, the ADF gradually relocated its operations to eastern Congo before pledging allegiance to Islamic State in 2019.
Since then, the organisation has combined its long-running insurgency along the Congo-Uganda border with the broader objectives of the international militant network.
Its fighters have carried out deadly attacks against civilians and security forces in Congo, as well as bombings in Uganda.
Uganda deployed thousands of troops to eastern Congo in late 2021 as part of a joint military campaign aimed at dismantling the insurgency.
Although the operation helped secure major population centres and transport corridors, The Sentry said it failed to eliminate the ADF.
Instead, the insurgents dispersed into remote areas of North Kivu, Ituri and Tshopo provinces, where access to gold deposits and agricultural resources provided alternative sources of income.
The report suggested that continued military pressure has driven the group to adapt its operations and strengthen its involvement in informal trading networks.
Miners abducted and forced to extract gold
A representative of a Congolese mining cooperative told Reuters that ADF fighters began establishing positions near mining sites in mid-2024.
Speaking anonymously because of security concerns, the representative said insurgents abducted miners and prospectors and forced them to extract, transport and sell gold on the group’s behalf.
Other residents reportedly became involved in the trade in exchange for payment, creating an economic system maintained through a combination of coercion and financial incentives.
The Sentry’s investigation, which drew on more than 100 interviews, warned that the group’s access to mining revenues could undermine efforts to defeat it through military action alone.
The organisation called for stronger international scrutiny of gold supply chains linking eastern Congo with Uganda and other international markets.
It also recommended greater cooperation between governments and financial institutions to identify and disrupt networks handling minerals originating from areas controlled by armed groups.
The findings come as much of the international attention on eastern Congo remains focused on the Rwanda-backed M23 rebellion, which captured extensive territory during 2025.
Despite operating under comparatively less international scrutiny, the ADF remains one of the region’s deadliest armed organisations, carrying out repeated attacks on communities already affected by years of conflict and displacement.
Spokespersons for the Ugandan military and the governments of Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
