Terrorism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The risk of terrorist attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the past years can be classified as very high. Compared to other countries, here are many and momentous events. Over the past 5 years a total number of 489 terrorist incidents has been recorded, in which 1727 people have been killed and 742 injured.

In 207 incedents a total of 1775 people have been kidnapped or taken as hostage, though a ransom was rarely (23 times) extorted.

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Most frequent attack targets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

(2013 to 2017)

Target	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
Private citizens	358	1,297	537	1,443
Military	52	289	103	81
Government	51	126	157	105
Police	44	207	33	52
Business	17	74	15	183
NGO	14	10	8	61
Journalists & Media	10	18	7	8
Religious institutions	5	1	1	10
Airports & Aircraft	3	47	10	0
Non-state militias	3	31	0	0

Most affected regions

(2013 to 2017)

Region	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
North Kivu	271	1,158	444	676
Orientale	69	86	72	254
Ituri	29	40	18	189
South Kivu	22	63	143	201
Katanga	19	25	1	16
Haut-Uele	14	6	0	172
Kasai-Central	9	112	7	61
Bas-Uele	9	1	1	138
Kasai-Oriental	9	1	0	9
Kinshasa	9	92	15	1
Haut-Katanga	4	5	3	20
Maniema	4	0	3	17
Tanganyika	4	62	33	0
Mongala	3	17	0	0
Bas-Congo	2	3	0	0
Kasai Central	2	49	0	0
Equateur	1	1	0	0
Lualaba	1	0	1	0
Equator	1	0	0	0
Lomami	1	0	0	0

Terrorist organisations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Organisation	Attacks	Killed	Injured	Hostages
Mayi Mayi	40	71	41	245
Nyatura Militia	19	24	18	22
Kamwina Nsapu Militia	19	181	14	61
Mai Mai Simba Militia	11	45	6	128
Mai Mai Bakata Katanga Militia	9	0	0	9
M23	6	5	14	0
Raia Mutomboki Militia	6	10	3	19
Mai Mai Mazembe Militia	6	80	25	0
Twa Militia	4	62	33	0
Colonel Albert Kahasha Militia	1	20	0	0
Mai Mai Manu Militia	1	0	1	0

All information sourced from the "National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism" (START) and its Global Terrorism Database. An act of terrorism is concidered every incident which is aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal, but not for pure profit motives. In addition these incidents must not be legitimized by warfare activities, listet in the Geneva Conventions of 1949.