SUMMARY

The one-sided violence by ADF and the Vuba militia took place in the Bambuba-Kisiki groupement in the Beni territory of DR Congo. The two groups had fostered a close relationship over the years. ADF had cohabitated with the Vuba community and the Vuba militia was armed and trained by ADF. In 2015 and 2016 the two groups attacked civilians together in an effort to scare Nande migrants into leaving the area. Nande had moved into the Bambuba-Kisiki groupement for years and managed to by land and take on prominent positions within the local leadership, in the church and in the health-care. Some hard-line Vuba felt threatened by this and wished to reclaim land and favorable taxation rates from the Nande who had relocated from the Lubero territory.

The ADF, Vuba militia coalition first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 2016, when the one-sided violence resulted in more than 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in late December of that year when the coalition attacked villages around Eringeti in Beni territory, resulting in over 30 deaths.