A Ugandan man Swalleh Abubakar faces charges of terrorism-related offences, accused of supporting the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group allied to Islamic State (IS).
Swalleh Abubakar, 31, extradited last month from Zambia, appeared in a magistrate’s court in the Ugandan capital late on Monday. He faces charges including “terrorism financing” and “rendering support to a terrorist organisation.” Abubakar was not allowed to enter a plea, as the case will be tried in a higher court where he will answer the charges. He was remanded to prison after the charges were read to him.
Prosecutors allege that Abubakar provided material support to the ADF and recruited fighters for the group. The charge sheet claims he “directly or indirectly mobilised funds and procured digital watches and power banks” between 2018 and April 2024. The accused activities reportedly spanned Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Zambia, and South Africa.
Abubakar is also accused of transferring the procured materials to the ADF, knowing they would be used to instigate acts of terrorism. The ADF, originally an uprising in Uganda but based in Congo since the late 1990s, pledged allegiance to IS in mid-2019 and has been blamed for killing hundreds of villagers in eastern Congo over the years.
Uganda has linked the ADF to attacks such as the 2021 triple suicide bombing in the capital that killed seven people, including the bombers, and a June attack last year where the group’s fighters killed 37 people at a school in western Uganda near the DRC border.
