M23, ADF and Transnational Networks: Investigating a Terrorist Alliance with Regional and International Reach

PAN AFRICAN MEDIA
Dec 22, 2025
3 min read

Over recent months, converging evidence from security, diplomatic, and United Nations sources has pointed to the emergence of a transnational financing and arms network linking the M23 terrorist movement, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), and Islamist networks operating in East Africa, with indirect connections to Hamas.

This clandestine architecture—still sparsely documented in the public domain—signals a qualitative shift in the security threat in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The conflict is no longer a localized insurgency alone; it is increasingly embedded in international terrorist circuits, where Congolese gold has become a strategic currency of exchange.

The Kenya–Somalia–Uganda Axis at the Core of the Flows

According to multiple sources close to regional intelligence services, a Somali network operating from Kenya allegedly serves as an intermediary platform between actors affiliated with Hamas and armed groups active in the Great Lakes region.

This network is said to work in coordination with Ugandan and Rwandan traffickers, using a logistical corridor through Uganda to channel small arms, ammunition, advanced equipment, and technological know-how into eastern DRC.

In return, armed groups reportedly supply gold illegally extracted from areas under their control particularly in North Kivu and Ituri—thereby integrating Congolese resources into global terrorist financing chains.

M23 and ADF: Criminal and Terrorist Convergence

Long viewed as ideologically distinct—the M23 as a predominantly politico-military rebel movement and the ADF as a designated terrorist group affiliated with the Islamic State—the two groups now appear to be converging around shared logistical, financial, and operational interests.

Security sources report pragmatic cooperation between M23 and the ADF, including:

Shared smuggling routes,

Pooled financing networks, and

Exchanges of weapons and intelligence.

This convergence may help explain the ADF’s resilience despite repeated military operations, as well as M23’s sustained access to advanced weaponry and coordination capabilities in spite of international sanctions.

The UN Experts’ 2024 Report: Early Warning Signs

The 2024 report of the UN Group of Experts on the DRC had already warned of cross-border networks, verified contacts, and illicit flows linking multiple armed groups, though it refrained from publishing all details to protect sources.

Reexamined in light of new information, these findings cast fresh light on the massacres of civilians in Beni, marked by a level of brutality, coordination, and repetition consistent with structured terrorist methods.

Beni: Violence Beyond a Local Conflict

The mass killings in Beni territory can no longer be understood solely as a product of local insecurity or communal conflict. They increasingly appear to be part of a broader economy of terror, driven by regional criminal interests and transnational ideological agendas.

This interpretation challenges certain international approaches often criticized as overly narrow or technocratic, and raises fundamental questions about the legal and strategic classification of the conflict in eastern DRC.

Silence, Complicity, and Regional Responsibility

The investigation also raises serious questions about the role of certain transit states, porous borders, and the active or passive tolerance of criminal networks operating within their territories.

Several diplomats interviewed privately acknowledge that the international dimension of the Congolese conflict remains underestimated, in part due to geopolitical considerations and diplomatic calculations.

A Security Turning Point for the DRC

If fully substantiated, these findings would place the DRC at the center of the global fight against terrorism, with direct implications for: