Areas of operation of armed groups in eastern DR. Congo

Insecurity in the highlands of the Uvira and Fizi areas of South Kivu, not far from the border with Burundi, is not necessarily the same as in Beni in North Kivu, where rebels operate on the border with Uganda, or not far from the town of Bunia in the north of the region. It cannot therefore be stated that this violence is inter-community or inter-ethnic, as was the case between 1999 and 2003. Nor can it be accepted and argued that they are fundamentally related to terrorist, Islamist and extremist movements, whether or not they are close to the Islamic State. These are conflicts that are structured by a set of diverse factors: political, institutional, economic, social, access to resources, identity. The issues, motivations and armed mobilizations abound in this perspective also at different levels: government, international actors, armed groups and communities.