Katanga insurgency

Katanga insurgency refers to the ongoing rebellion by a number of rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo aiming for the creation of a separate state within Katanga.

Background
Insurrection and political instability first appeared in Katanga immediately after Republic of the Congo's indepence in 1960. The region attempted to create a breakaway state with the support of Belgium, which aimed to create a puppet state and gain access to the mineral rich region. The State of Katanga however failed to defend it's independence during the Congo Crisis and was integrated into Congo in 1963.

Between 1977 and 1978, Front for the National Liberation of the Congo sparked two major conflict in the region known as Shaba I and Shaba II.

A number of separatist groups conducted a low intensity insurgency since the end of Shaba II, the main factions being Referendum on Self-Determination for Katanga and Mai Mai Kata Katanga.

On 9 September 2011, rebel leader Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga managed to escape the Kassapa prison where he was detained. Mutanga soon established the Mai Mai Kata Katanga a rebel faction aiming to create an independent Katanga state.

Timeline
On 15 October 2004, rebels attacked the town of Kilwa, approximately 3000 people fled into neighbouring Zambia in the aftermath of the attack.

On 20 October 2004, security forces recaptured Kilwa killing 30 insurgents and detaining rebel commander Alain Ilunga Mukalyi as well as several other rebels.

On 23 November 2010, militants raided a village situated in the vicinity of Luena.

On 26 November 2010, FARDC bombed rebel positions and engaged in clashes with insurgents in the area of Luena. A total of 6 people were killed including 1 government soldier and 5 insurgents, 12 insurgents were also captured. Among those killed was rebel leader Yesu Mulongo.

On 9 September 2011, a group of masked gunmen raided the Kassapa prison facility near Lubumbashi, killing two guards and freeing 967 prisoners. Among the prisoners that escaped was Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga a former Mai Mai commander as well as members of the Referendum on Self-Determination for Katanga (Corak) rebel faction. At least 230 escapees were recaptured within days after the jailbreak, while bounties ranging from $100,000 to $500 were placed on the rest.

On 21 December 2012, two insurgents and one government soldier was killed when rebels clashed with security forces outside the Lubumbashi airport.Three militants were also captured.A few days before the incident Angola based insurgents threatened of upcoming attacks.

In August 2013, the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, MONUSCO, rescued 82 children, some as young as eight, who had been forcibly recruited to the militia as child soldiers. MONUSCO stated that a total of 163, including 22 girls, have been freed since the beginning of the year. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a March 8 report that the humanitarian effects have spread to half of Katanga’s 22 territories.

According to DRC authorities hundreds of Mai Mai militants deserted the movement during 2013.

On 7 January 2014, Bakata Katanga separatists launched an attack on Lubumbashi, the attack was repelled by security forces after a skirmish in Kiziba, southeast of Lubumbashi.

On 5 April 2014, FDLR guerillas pillaged a number of villages and ambushed a road cargo on Route Nationale 5, near Kabulo in Kalemie territory.

It was reported that 35 attacks rebel attacks occurred within the first four months of 2014, the incidents occurred in the Katangan territories of Kalemie, Manono, Mitaba, Pweto, and Moba.