MONTHLY REPORT : JULY 2018 The most important incidents in July 2018 were clashes between the armies of the DR Congo and Uganda on Lake Edward. In addition to persistent violence elsewhere in the Kivus, two new armed groups also emerged, led by Jules Vwiranda in Beni territory (North Kivu) and Kadaradara in (). Beni was the deadliest territory of the Kivus during this month, with 33 violent deaths of civilians recorded. The most important news of July in Beni was a series of skirmishes between the Ugandan and Congolese government at the 60 violent deaths (↓20% compared with June 2018) beginning of the month. On July 4th, the 38 abductions 39 kidnappings (↓35%) Ugandan navy arrested 53 Congolese fishermen, taking them to Rwashama, 57 clashes between belligerents (↓9%) and seized 18 canoes on the grounds that they had violated the national border and had illegally cross into Ugandan waters. The following day, an altercation between a Congolese patrol of naval and land forces and the Ugandan army resulted in the death of three Ugandan marines and three Ugandan fishermen in the north of Lake Edward between Semuliki and Lubiriha rivers, near the village of Muhiya. On July 6th, canoes belonging to Congolese fishermen were found floating abandoned on the lake, with traces of blood in some of them. According to a July 7 report by minister of fisheries and livestock, 12 Congolese fishermen were killed and more than 90 arrested and taken to Uganda as a result of these operations. The conflict was triggered by a lack of a border demarcation on the lake, a drop in the fish stock on the lake as a result of population growth and overfishing on the Congolese side, where the lake lies entirely in the Virunga Park. The number of fishing boats there has increased from 700 to 1,400 in recent years. The Congolese government's attempts to free the Congolese detainees in Uganda have so far been unsuccessful. During the same period, a new armed group led by a commander named Jules Vwiranda set up positions in the highlands east of the Beni-Butembo road. The territory of Lubero has experienced a long lull in violence since the Mai-Mai Kilalo were chased out of Kipese by the army: only one confrontation in the territory was recorded in July, between the Mai-Mai Mazembe to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC). The positions of Mai-Mai Mazembe, the most powerful armed group in the territory, remained stable: the dissidence created last month by Justin (Mai-Mai Yira) was short-lived, and the group was united again in July. However, towards the end of the month, a number of kidnappings took place along the Kirumba-Kaseghe, Kikuvo-Kirumba, Kirumba-Kanyabayonga and Lubero-Kasugho roads. In the territory of Rutshuru, there were clashes between armed groups, mainly between Nyatura Domi (allies of the Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du -Forces Combattantes Abacunguzi, FDLR-FOCA) and the FARDC or Mai-Mai Mazembe. The territory also experienced a large number of kidnappings, most of which were followed by the release of the hostages after a ransom was paid. The identity of the group responsible for the kidnappings was in most cases unknown, except for one case where the FDLR- Ralliement pour l’Unité et la Démocratie (RUD) was clearly identified. In , the month of July was marked by clashes between the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renové (NDC-R) and the Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain (APCLS). The NDC-R has forged an alliance with a dissenting faction of the APCLS (the Mapenzi Group, also called Lola Hale) to fight the APCLS. Unlike in June, no cattle raids took place. In the territory of Walikale, looting was widespread. The Guides–MAC and the Kifuafua Shalio were responsible for some incidents, while the perpetrators of two other cases of could not be identified. As for the armed clashes, since April-May 2018 the coalitions formed in Masisi spilled over into : the NDC-R allied with the Mapenzi Group against the APCLS (which linked up with Mandaima's NDC Sheka) at least once in Kilambo on July 8th. In Kalehe, abuses by armed groups against civilians decreased on the western part of the territory () compared to May and June, but a new armed group, the Raia Mutomboki Kadaradara, emerged in Mushunguti groupement in response to Nyatura attacks. On the shores of , there continued to be many cases of armed banditry. On July 10th, FARDC troops, who were allegedly on their way from Goma to conduct raids against the local population, clashed with other FARDC troops based in Kalehe when they tried to rob a boat. Island was relatively calm, with one case of a police officer abusing a civilian following an argument. In the Kabare--Walungu area, Operation Tujikinge, which the provincial government launched against armed bandits several months ago, seems to have reached its limits, given the many cases of banditry in and around Bukavu. In the capital of South Kivu, for example, apart from a clean up operation that escalated into violence between police and civilians in the Dendere neighborhood on July 8th, all other violence (6 cases) was due to armed banditry, including burglaries and the raiding of health centers. The territory of Walungu experienced two such cases on July 11th (a health facility was ransacked, during which a woman was raped) and on July 13th (two houses were looted). The territory of Kabare experienced two such cases, too, including at a health facility in Lurhala on July 12th, and of a residence in Kabamba on July 24th. FARDC soldiers also clashed among themselves in Miti village on July 14th, while an unknown group attacked the FARDC position in Chishado. In the territory of Shabunda, armed groups looted of villages (Nyombe July 3rd), mining quarries (Tumpyempye July 17th) and held up passengers (Ngolombe July 14th). On two occasions, armed groups clashed with the FARDC during these raids: Raia Mutomboki Kikwama and Kazimoto in Byunda village on July 17th, and the Mai-Mai Malaika and Raia Mutomboki Makindu in Chabene village on July 12th.

In territory, fighting between the so-called indigenous communities (Fuliiru, Bembe, Nyindu) and the Banyamulenge in Bijombo, on the eastern fringes of the Itombwe forest, decreased significantly in July. A single clash took place north of Bijombo, resulting in the murder of a woman and the burning of houses in Nyambindu village by the Twiganeho militia on July 24th. The escalation of violence that many feared would take place did not occur. However, kidnappings proliferated (11 cases) in the Ruzizi Plain (Sange, Mutarule, Rubanga, Lemera, , and toward Uvira town), targeting people from diverse socio- economic classes. Finally, the Burundian RED-Tabara rebels have reinforced their presence in the highlands around Lemera, and there were reports of a large crossing of Burundian rebels National Liberation Forces (FNL) into Congolese territory, which coincided with an attack on a bus in the Ruzizi Plain. In , security incidents have dropped off, partly due to FARDC operations in the Lusambo highlands (Tanganyika sector) against the Raia Mutomboki Bishambuke, even though these operations displaced much of the local population in Makyala, Etundu and Lusololo villages on July 22nd and 23rd. Meanwhile, in Lulenge sector further south, three cases of cattl theft, attributed to the Mai-Mai Aoci, were reported on July 21st, 27th, and 31st. In that last case, shepherds in search of their cows came across a young farmer in a field in Kayumba village and shot him.

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