Recurrent ADF attacks leaves Byambwe as a ghost villagee

 

Located approximately 65 kilometers from Butembo, the village of Byambwe now resembles a true ghost town. The atrocities attributed to the ADF rebels have profoundly disrupted the lives of its inhabitants.

On the night of November 14, 2025, at least 28 people were massacred. Two months later, on the morning of January 13, 2026, another attack claimed the lives of 6 more civilians. Since these tragedies, the population has fled en masse and is only returning tentatively.

Upon entering the grounds of Saint Paul Parish in Byambwe, visitors are greeted by weeds that have overgrown the once bustling pathways, a symbol of the area's gradual abandonment. According to Father Ghislain Katsere, the situation is dire.

"The situation is macabre… Twenty-eight people were massacred here on the night of November 14th, and then another six on the morning of January 13th."

Behind the parish church, the hospital is closed. The congregation of nuns who ran it have left, and the medical staff refuse to return out of fear.

"The health centers are closed, even burned down." “The healthcare staff no longer want to come because of fear,” laments Father Katsere.

Despite this persistent insecurity, two priests have chosen to remain to maintain a spiritual presence among the few parishioners. Father Katsere emphasizes, “We are still two priests here. It is very difficult, but it is our faith in Christ that keeps us going.”

The violence that struck the Lubero territory, Bapere sector, now appears to be spreading to new areas of the Beni territory. In the Malio group, Bashu chiefdom, 15 primary schools and 8 secondary schools have suspended their activities for nearly a week and a half due to the insecurity.

Since Monday, January 26, 2026, schools in the villages of Vurondo, Kisasa Ndondi, Kivira, Kisungu Vulera, and Kyondo Kitumbu have remained closed following repeated attacks attributed to the ADF/NALU in the Mwenye area (Lubero) and in Vurondo (Malio). This situation is severely disrupting the school calendar, as secondary school students are currently taking exams.

The affected populations have sought refuge in Butuhe and Butembo, considered safer, while civil society is calling on the government to intensify efforts to restore peace and allow schools to resume normal operations.

Hostages killed!

Two Pygmy citizens, held hostage by the ADF since February 6, 2026, were found dead on February 9 in Abulembi, in the village of Bwanasura/Otomabere.

They were returning from hunting when, upon encountering the ADF, they refused to be used as trackers, which led to their execution, according to a survivor.

Upon their arrival at the Bwanasura/Otomabere market, a wave of grief swept through friends and family. The widow of Dunga was rescued after attempting suicide upon discovering the bodies of her husband and her younger brother, Mapimbo.

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M23 gets 7532 new recruits , finishing their commando course in Cyanzu

 A total of 7,532 additional soldiers who completed their training at the Tchanzu camp were presented by the AFC/M23 on February 8.

These troops displayed demonstrations of strength through martial arts before their Chief of Staff, Sultani Makenga.

While diplomacy is presented as the preferred approach in the conflict in eastern DRC, the presentation of this latest military contingent raises questions about the end of hostilities.

THE CYBER PROBE INTO THE NETWORK OF CONNMEN WHO USE NATASHA MUSEVENI’S PROFILE

 

A month has elapsed after I started studying the sequences into this cyber criminal act, I started my cyber investigation on this issue on 4th Jan 2026 up to today when the Uganda Police finally netted these conmen and I finally decided to share a light for all of you to read .

First of all,it is worth to note that this group of cyber thieves run a number of fake accounts on TIKTOK,FACEBOOK,INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP.

These profile provide pictures and photos of either Natasha alone or Natasha and her family as profile picture or a posted photo with words that lure their targets into thinking that they can get help in terms of finance from the first family to boost their businesses or other socioeconomic needs.Some posted photos that lure the vulnerable targets are like these ones below:

NB:You can see some of the pictures with words that lure the victims,That TIKTOK profile @Mrs.natasha75 also has a Whatsapp account which I named Kgp.Probe(because I was carrying out some cyber investigation on it .it is registered with an airtel number registered in names of Nangobi Beth as you can see in photos below.from the conversation I had with the conman.

That is the airtel number of that whatsapp account!

They usually scout their target victims from the comments on TIKTOK, Facebook and Instagram whom they contact through their message boxes of these social media platforms by asking them to provide their personal phone numbers or these conmen directly give their WhatsApp phone numbers and that is where all the conning process starts .The fraudsters ask which type of business the victim does or intends to do, the capital they have or the capital they intend to start with. It from this point that the culprits start convincing the victim of an existing statehouse body that works through Natasha to fund or help people. After knowing that the victim is convienced,they compel him or her to provide a mobile phone number ,the NAMES,PLACE OF ORIGIN,ETC and the compel him to pay a fee of 48,000.

Below are the conversations in messages and whatsapp calls I had with the fraudster as I tried to study him!

How do they convince the victim?

They usually call the victim via video call on WhatsApp claiming that they want to see the person they want to help. They make sure that the video portrays the picture of Natasha Museveni in a seemingly talking manner while in actual sense it is the culprits talking behind the portrayed video but the victim thinks he or she is talking with the daughter of the President.

This is how it is done:

On whatsapp it is called Video mirroring.And it is done through the following steps:

On android Phone:

1.THEY START A VIDEO CALL

2.OPEN A VIDEO PLAYER APP .

3.PLAY THE PRE-RECORDE VIDEO WITH THE DESIRED FACE

4.USE SCREEN SHARING OR SCREEN MIRRORING TO SHARE THE VIDEO

ON Iphones:

1.THEY USE THE “SCREEN MIRRORING” FEAUTURE(CONTROL CENTRE>SCREEN MIRRORING).

2.OPEN ANY PHOTO APP OR VIDEO PLAYER.

3,PLAY THE PRE-RECORDED VIDEO

4.Then START THE WHATS VIDOE CALL AND MIRROR THE SCREEN

With these steps ,the culprits are able to confuse the victim to believe that he or she istalking with the real person.

To further ,make sure that the victim doesn’t detect it’s a fraud,they send an application interface showing that the organization system is about to process the fund,they show the interface for the payments of the 48,000.Seemingly ,these conmen are programmers who design UIs for specifically luring the victim into sending the money.

You casn see the photo below for the interface:

And as an experience person in cyber crimes i was seeing the interface and the proof that it was fraud!You can see the spelling of some words ,meaning he did it on hurry just to convince the target!

Conclusion :

As you know,I have been writing about this cyber criminals in this region for over 7 years,Iam very sure that many people have fallen victim and no justice to such victims,In upcountry disticts parents have lost money to such fraudsters and very few of these conmen have been brought to book.Many of these fraudsters have even gone to an extent of using the church to con people and many innocent poor peasants have fallen prey without any hope of rescue from these conmen.

From the screenshots below ,you can see a fraudster trying to convience victims that he is a sisterat Mutorele:

Why are these cyber acts apparently uncontrollable?

One of the biggest challenge police or the cyber security team has is the uncontrollable ownership of SIMCARDS IN Uganda(how simcard vendors registered these simcards is an issue I also made an investigative post on about some years ago) ,I know it is very hard to believe that up to now,many simcards are held by people yet they are not registered in their own names.If a victim reports a case or is conned of his or her money,the phone number that was used is thrown away and it hinders investigation or the innocent person falls victim.The gorvenmnet SECURITY agencies must again investigate on how these simcards are registered.

There is a suspicion that a good number of many people  own our national IDs yet they are not citzens of Uganda or when they actually do not stay in Uganda.Many non citzens have dubiously acquired or registered for national Ids which they use to register for simcards.This is more common in districts sharing borders with our neighbouring countries.Some of these come and carry out such cyber acts and then turn back to their countries.It is very hard to believe this but facts will soon or later prove this.The gorvenment must employ strict measures in how and who should register for NATIONAL IDs.And stern and strong warning to people involved in the registration and issuance of national documents must be availed and culprits reprimanded.Our president is the most. Panafrricanist in Africa and Uganda the most welcoming to all foreigners but If foreigner wishes to stay in Uganda,  a legal and due process must be followed and thus a foreighner legally allowed to stay or get a ugandan citizenship must be the only one to be allowed to register for our  national ID.This issue of dubious acquisition of athe national ID by unknown foreighners is not only a fraud threat to civilians but a big danger to the strategic security of all the sectors of the country.

UCC,Police and other cyber defence departments must carry out a massive enlightment of the public on such acts and this enlightment must target the people in vilages.As witnessed,these cyber criminal acts are rampant during the school fees payment time targeting frustrated parents;

 and for the case of this issue about Natasha Museveni,the criminals had targeted the presidential electoral time where many victims probably thought it was a way of looking for votes.

YOU CAN READ MORE ON SUCH RELATED INVESTIGATIONS IN OUR EARLIER POSTS

By: Niyikiza Emmanuel(N.E)

For God And My COUNTRY

Economic Intel:An American company will now exploit the Butembo Copper.

The copper deposits in Butembo, North Kivu, have just been acquired by the American company AFDG, in line with the economic cooperation agreement between Kinshasa and Washington.

African Discovery Group (AFDG) announces the signing of a definitive Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the Butembo Copper Asset in the Democratic Republic of Congo; changing its name to Copper Intelligence, Inc.

The transaction was signed in conjunction with a roundtable on strategic minerals held in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the launch of Project Vault by U.S. President Donald J. Trump, and with the participation of DRC President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, Aldo Cesano, Director of Copper Intelligence, and the first ministerial meeting on critical minerals organized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington.

The exploration license for this little-explored copper was held by Graben Mining, whose exploration fields are located in the Bashu region of Beni territory.

The copper recently discovered in this region had yielded promising and satisfactory results, according to the scientific data we have accessed.

It worth to note  that the company conducting the first artisanal mining operations in the villages of Kavasewa, Kitheghe, and Kathihu (Bashu) .

The Bashu region has long been a chief of the extremist ADF rebellion, now affiliated with the Islamic State under the label ISCAP (Central Africa Province of Daesh) with Mughalika (Mwalika) as one of the largest bases of this group where new recruits were trained in indoctrination.

The  Preliminary data from the Butembo copper prospect has yielded promising and satisfactory results, with high-quality oxidized copper ore found near the surface, with grades up to 18%.

The Butembo Copper project is a greenfield exploration project located in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, 40 km south of the provincial capital of Beni and 33 km west of the Ugandan border (Karuruma). It has verified road and rail access to the port of Mombasa in Kenya.

The area is generally underexplored compared to the well-known copper belts of the Katanga Copperbelt in southern DRC.

The Butembo copper deposit is a high-grade, near-surface oxidized copper ore with measured grades reaching up to 18%, extending to a depth and lateral extent of over 5 km. The project is located at the base of the Ruwenzori Mountains and borders Virunga National Park. Extensive artisanal mining of copper and gold, and consequently a thriving small-scale mineral industry, has existed in Butembo for many years. Samples of licorice clay to the north have tested positive for copper – this is interpreted as a positive indicator of a northern extension of the Butembo deposit.

"The artisanal and first-phase exploration pits around the floodplain of the Talihya River, which crosses the concession, were tested over an initial length of 500 m – and the results were positive, with one of these analyses reporting the 18% copper mentioned above, as well as 16.3% in another exploration pit," the American company AFDG, now Copper Intelligence, stated, indicating that the mineralization is structurally controlled, occurring along shear zones and folds that facilitate the flow of hydrothermal fluids. "The primary minerals in the ore include chalcopyrite, pyrite, and linneite, forming massive sulfide lenses and disseminated zones." 

The company that acquired the copper exploration/mining license in Butembo is listed on the US stock exchange, but the owners of the copper fields in Bashu, where this exploration is being conducted, have not yet been compensated.

The combined company, Copper_Intelligence, formerly African Discovery Group, which purchased the license from GrabenMining, has announced that it has become the first independent company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to be listed on the US stock exchange.

However, reports from civil society organizations in the #Beni territory, specifically in the #Bashu chiefdom where the exploration fields for this recently discovered copper are located, are outraged by the work already underway in this region without involving the local population, the landowners. According to documents from these organizations, several mining activities are carried out by teams from SAEMAPE [Service for Assistance and Support of Small-Scale Artisanal Mining] from the city of 

Butembo, accompanying mining operators supervised by Caucasians, but not involving locals.

This exploitation of the copper discovered in the Butembo region of North Kivu has reached a new stage with the announcement by the American company African Discovery Group (AFDG) of the signing of a definitive sale and purchase agreement (SPA) concerning the Butembo Copper Asset in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company also indicates that it is operating under a new name, Copper Intelligence, Inc. This transaction is part of the strengthened economic cooperation between Kinshasa and Washington, concluded on the sidelines of a roundtable on strategic minerals held in Washington, D.C., which was attended by several political leaders and stakeholders in the critical resources sector.

The exploration license for this still largely untapped deposit was previously held by Graben Mining, whose exploration areas are located primarily in the Bashu region of Beni territory. According to the scientific data consulted, the initial results related to the presence of copper in this area are encouraging and confirm the site's potential. This discovery is now attracting the attention of international stakeholders in a global context marked by strong demand for strategic minerals, essential in particular for the technology and energy industries.

On the ground, however, concerns persist regarding the governance and local impact of this new mining activity. In Beni, activist Sadam Patanguli has been denouncing for several years what he considers a lack of transparency in the research and the initial artisanal mining operations observed in villages such as Kavasewa, Kitheghe, and Kathihu. He asserts that some operations are evading tax payments and failing to adequately integrate local labor, fearing that this situation will further fuel insecurity in a region already weakened by the past presence of armed groups, notably the ADF, historically active in the Bashu area.

ADF kills 15 civilians in Bapere sector!

 

According to Intelligence we have received this morning,an attack attributed to the ADF left 15 dead, including 2 women, on the night of Friday, February 6 to Saturday, February 7, 2026, in Mambimbi-Isigo, Bapakombe group, Bapere sector (Lubero territory).

 15 civilians killed, including 2 women

 Several people missing

 7 houses burned down

There is reported Mass displacement to areas considered safer near Njiapanda-Manguredjipa.

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UPDF gets New Deputy Commander of the UPDF Land Forces.

 Brigadier General Joseph Musoke Ssemwanga has been promoted to the rank of Major General and appointed  the Deputy Commander of the UPDF Land Forces, Acting Director Defence Public Information Colonel CHRIS MAGEZI said in a statement.

According to the statement, the appointment took effect in December 2025 after Major General Takirwa fell ill.

Major General Ssemwanga replaces Major General Francis Takirwa (RIP) who passed away this morning after illness. He was until recently the Contingent Commander of UPDF troops serving under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM).

Civil society frustrated by the Shujaa operations and calls for arming of civilians to defend themselves against ADF

 Faced with recurring ADF attacks, activist Clovis Mutsuva is calling for civilians to be armed and for increased public mobilization to protect their communities.

Speaking on the ground in Oïcha Mabasele, he was addressing the situation after an attack that claimed the lives of two people, including Mr. Tembo, a farmer and father of three.

In a video, he expressed his frustration with the inaction of the joint FARDC and UPDF operations, the provincial governor, General Evariste Somo Kakule, and the sector commander, General Mugisa, despite repeated warnings from civil society. According to him, in the space of four days, the ADF carried out four attacks within a 40 km radius, notably in Mamove and Oïcha.

According to Intelligence,it is too unfortunate that the ADF who  presently attacked mabasele were putting on  uniform similar the new FARDC uniform.The question remains,"who sneaks the gorvenme t attires to these terrorists?