A number of separatist groups have conducted a low intensity insurgency since the end of Shaba II, the main factions being the Coordination for the Organization of a Referendum on Self-Determination of Katanga (CORAK), the
Mai Mai Kata Katanga, and the Congress of Peoples of Katanga (CPK). 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 5 February 2011, Katangese separatists seized control of the
Luano airport in
Lubumbashi but were forced out of the area by members of the FARDC and the local police. One death was reported and local sources indicated that the attack may have been done by the insurgent group CPK. On the night of 11 July 2011, the anniversary of the secession of the
State of Katanga in 1960, suspected CORAK militants attacked the Kimbembe military base, killing an unspecified number of people. Prior to the attack, on July 1, CORAK issued a statement calling for the independence of Katanga. On 9 September 2011, rebel leader
Gédéon 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. Mutanga also established Mai Mai Gédéon, effectively having two separate militia groups under his command. These two militias primarily operate in the Mitwaba, Manono and Pweto localities of Katanga Province; an area that has been nicknamed the "Triangle of Death' as a result of the conflict. On 27 November 2011, a weapons depot located in the Major Nvangu à Lubumbashi military camp was destroyed in the aftermath of an arson attack, killing one of the soldiers guarding the depot. A military spokesman accused CORAK of carrying the attack. On 27 December 2011, trials of CORAK militants began at the Lubumbashi garrison military court; the defendants were accused of desertion and insurrection, among other charges. The accused included militants arrested during the February 2011 Luano airport attack and the Kassapa prison break. The next hearing was scheduled to be held on 6 January 2012. On 21 December 2012, two insurgents and one government soldier were killed when rebels clashed with security forces outside
Lubumbashi International Airport. Three militants were also captured. A few days before the incident, Angola-based insurgents issued statements indicating the possibility of imminent attacks. Circa 1,410 people were killed in the
Batwa-Luba clashes from 2013 to 2020, those clashes are caused by the violence perpetred by the Kata Katanga against civilians supported by Baluba ethnic group. On 23 March 2013, between 300 and 350 Kata Katanga militia launched an unsuccessful attack on Lubumbashi, later fleeing into a United Nations compound to surrender; a total of 245 militants were detained. 35 people were killed and 60 were wounded during the clashes. 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 into Katanga militias
as child soldiers. MONUSCO stated that a total of 163 children, including 22 girls, had been freed since the beginning of the year. On 8 October 2013, rebel commander Albert “Yorgo” Kisimba surrendered to local authorities in Manomo. Three weeks earlier, Kisimba's family, along with 50 militants, had also capitulated at the same location. According to DRC authorities, hundreds of Mai Mai militants deserted the movement during 2013. It was reported that 35 attacks rebel attacks occurred within the first four months of 2014, occurring in the Katangese territories of Kalemie, Manono, Mitaba, Pweto, and Moba. On 7 January 2014, Bakata Katanga separatists launched an attack on Lubumbashi, but the attack was repelled by security forces after a skirmish in Kiziba, southeast of Lubumbashi. A total of 26 people were killed during the clashes, as scores of civilians fled the city. On 6 July 2014, the Congolese army recaptured the town of Wimbi, previously occupied by elements of Mai Mai Yakutumba, who had looted the town, stealing fuel, livestock and other material goods. On 7 August 2014, FDLR rebels ambushed a bus outside the village of Kanyangwe, killing one and seriously injuring two people. On 12 September 2014, a group of 10 militants shot dead a police officer along with his wife in the town of Malemba Nkulu, and the rebels then proceeded to plunder the town, later torching 10 houses and taking 3 people hostage. On 16 September 2014, the Congolese military announced the take over of 11 towns previously controlled by Bakata Katanga rebels: Ndela, Kabunda, Kishale, Paza, Nkokole, Muluvia, Kabala, Lubinda, Lenge Wa Bangi, Lenge Wa Bunga, and Kyungu. Mai Mai Gédéon commander Kafilo was recognised among those killed during clashes that took place earlier in September. On 26 September 2014,
MONUSCO confirmed the death of Bakata Katanga commander Kasompobe, whose corpse was discovered on the shore of the
Luvua River on September 12. Between 5–6 October 2014, Mai Mai militants burned 60 houses in
Katuba, Kasamba Kilangwa, and Kanswa, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee into
Dikulushi. At the same time, FARDC raided the central Mai Mai Gédéon headquarters located at
Moba, freeing 13 hostages. On 2 November 2014, Mai Mai Gédéon separatists launched simultaneous attacks on three villages in the region of Upemba. On 7 November 2014, government troops captured the Mai Mai Gédéon headquarters located in Musumari, forcing the separatists to withdraw from the area after suffering heavy casualties. Four rifles and big stacks of arrows were also confiscated. On 6 January 2015, FARDC arrested Jacques Mukashama (also known as Bwananyama). Mukashama led FDLR elements in the Northern part of Katanga province. On 31 January 2015, FARDC commander in Katanga
Jean Claude Kifwa announced that a total of 18 Kata Katanga fighters defected from the movement in the last quarter of 2014 following a successful propaganda campaign in the Pweto-Mitwaba-Manono triangle. On 17 March 2015, Congolese authorities released a report regarding the Katanga insurgency, which indicated a decline in Mai Mai activity. The report noted that Kalenge, Bakwanga, Oto and Madrakua were considered to be the last Mai Mai commanders in the region, while also announcing the detention of Oto's wife.
Gédéon's temporary surrender and later resurgence of Mai Mai Kata Katanga On 11 October 2016,
Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga, the leader of the Mai Mai Kata Katanga and the Mai Mai Gédéon militias, as well as 100 of his fighters, surrendered themselves to Congolese authorities in Malambwe. The governor of the
Haut-Katanga Province stated that the surrender was part of a series of negotiations seeking to end insecurity in Katanga and that the militiamen would enter a demobilization and rehabilitation program. In March 2020, his militia helped Gédéon Kyungu to escape from
house arrest in Lubumbashi. On 25 September 2020, Mai Mai Kata Katanga launched an incursion into central Lubumbashi, clashing with the Congolese military and the police. More than a dozen Mai Mai were killed in the violence as they attempted to seize strategic public buildings. Two policemen and a soldier were also killed. On 14 February 2021, Mai Mai Kata Katanga attacked two FARDC camps in Lubumbashi, namely Kimbembe and Kibati. In the resulting violence, four members of DRC security forces, one policeman, and six rebels were killed. Though a spokesman for FARDC stated that the army had successfully halted the rebel advance on the town, the complete operation to clear the rebels from the town and surrounding areas could take several days because the rebels had disguised themselves by mixing in with the local civilian population. Three commanders and 169 Mai Mai Bakata Katanga militants surrendered to the government at Mpyana sector in
Manono in November 2021. On 29 January 2022, about 100 Mai Mai Kata Katanga fighters under Gédéon captured the settlement of Mitwaba in
Mitwaba Territory; the rebels used the opportunity to once more declare the intention to restore Katanga's independence. They retreated from the area before security forces could respond effectively. FARDC claimed that some rebels had surrendered as the remainder withdrew. By December 2022, Gédéon was reportedly still in Mitwaba Territory. At this point, Haut-Katanga Province's council of ministers still considered his militia a significant threat, though the level of violence in the region had generally decreased. In January 2023, the FARDC targeted Mai Mai Kata Katanga forces which were hiding in the
Kundelungu and
Upemba National Parks. In January 2024, a group of 40 Mai Mai Kata Katanga fighters stormed the police station in Luena,
Bukama Territory, raising the Katangese flag and demanding the release of a milita member arrested at the location. However, the local policemen were able to easily repel the raid with some reinforcements. In May, the group attacked a FARDC battalion at Lutandula in the
Lufira Biosphere Reserve, killing one soldier and a National Service agent as well as capturing some loot before retreating. On 15 August, ten people were killed in Kilwa,
Pweto Territory, during a disputed incident; the FARDC claimed that it had repelled a separatist raid, but locals stated that the soldiers had shot civilians of the Mbidi sect due to mistaking them for insurgents. From 7 to 8 December, 80 Mai Mai Kata Katanga militants raided the village of Kapando, Bukama Territory, where they killed two civilians and stole 500,000
Congolese francs. Later that month, Mai Mai Kata Katanga attacked four villages and burned over 50 houses in
Moba Territory, causing around 4,000 civilians to flee. Soon after,
Eddy Kapend -commander of the local 22nd military region- called on the separatist rebels to surrender, threatening that he was increasing FARDC operations in response to the recent attacks. ==See also==