TERRORIST GROUPS
ISIS–Central Africa (ISIS-CA)
( AS OF APRIL 2025 )
OVERVIEW
ISIS–Central Africa (ISIS-CA), originally an antigovernment insurgency group in Uganda, became a branch of ISIS in 2019. ISIS-CA is one of the most lethal terrorist groups in Africa, having killed thousands of civilians since 2019. The branch aims to establish an emirate in Central Africa. ISIS-CA’s attacks are touted in ISIS’s propaganda, and the branch recruits some of its fighters in East Africa.
OPERATING AREAS
Primarily in North Kivu and Ituri provinces, DRC; also conducts attacks in Uganda
MEMBERS
1,000 to 1,500
TACTICS AND TARGETS
ISIS-CA uses small arms, IEDs, mortars, and RPGs in its attacks against Congolese citizens, regional military forces, and UN personnel in eastern DRC and neighboring regions of Uganda. In 2021, the branch began using IEDs to conduct attacks in Uganda.
TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The State Department designated ISIS-CA as a foreign terrorist organization and designated its leader, Seka Musa Baluku, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in March 2021.
KEY LEADERS
Seka Musa Baluku
a.k.a. Seka
Overall leader
Meddie Nkalubo
a.k.a. Punisher
Responsible for media production; attack commander
NOTABLE ATTACKS
15 January 2025
Lubero, DRC
ISIS-CA claims that it killed 41 Christians and captured 11 more.
16 June 2023
Kasese, Uganda
ISIS-CA attacks a private school, killing 38 students, one guard, and two other civilians.
3 April 2023
Ituri Province, DRC
ISIS-CA kills at least 31 civilians at the boundary between Irumu and Mambasa territories.
25 December 2021
Beni, DRC
An ISIS-CA operative detonates a suicide bomb at a bar, killing seven people, including two Congolese Government officials.
16 November 2021
Kampala, Uganda
Three ISIS-CA operatives carry out ISIS’s first suicide attack in Uganda by detonating explosives near the Parliament building, killing at least seven people.