Pool War

The Pool War is an ongoing conflict between the Republic of the Congo and the Ninja militia in the Pool Department. Tensions grew between Frédéric Bintsamou (also known as Pastor Ntumi) and Congolese president Denis Sassou-Nguesso, after Bintsamou contested modifications to the constitution. Bintsamou was formerly a collaborator of Sassou-Nguesso.

Between April 2016 and April 2017, a total of 115 people had died in the conflict. 13,000 people have been displaced as a result of the violence.

Timeline
On 4 April 2016, the government accused the Ninja militia of attacking security forces. In response, the militia denied the accusations, calling them false pretext for political suppression. Violence continued with events such as shelling by the Congolese armed forces and attacks on trains by the militia.

On 18 April 2017, 18 Congolese soldiers were killed by Ninja militiamen.