Breaking: our new investigation reveals a major shift in the funding of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of the deadliest armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The ADF previously relied on external financing support from ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Now the ADF has become self-reliant, supplying most of their own financing through proceeds from conflict gold, cocoa production, racketeering, and kidnapping for ransom. The investigation draws on more than 100 interviews with miners, traders, transporters, smugglers, financiers, armed-group collaborators, former hostages, security officials, government representatives, civil society actors, researchers, and international experts. The UN Security Council, United States, United Kingdom, and European Union should investigate and sanction conflict gold supply chains that link the ADF to Ugandan trading, refining, and export networks. Explore the findings and share: thesentry.org/reports/gold-b…

Today, a bipartisan group of US Senators are calling on the National Basketball Association (@NBA) to reevaluate its commercial partnership with Rwanda, in light of Rwanda's invasion of eastern DR Congo. This follows years of work by The Sentry on this issue. espn.com/nba/story/_/id/5028… Sasha Lezhnev, Senior Policy Advisor at the Sentry, said: "Rwanda's invasion of the DR Congo with up to 18,000 troops and command of an armed group that has recruited child soldiers and committed alleged war crimes should raise alarm bells with the NBA. It's time for the league and the Clippers to cancel their commercial relationships with Rwanda, just as Arsenal and Bayern Munich did last year." The Sentry has reported for several years on the roles of Rwanda, Uganda, and the DRC government in the conflict in eastern DRC. Earlier this year we launched the Blood on the Ball campaign to draw attention to sportswashing by governments involved in fueling some of the deadliest wars in the world, particularly Rwanda and the United Arab Emirates. Some of the Senators' key quotes: "We are increasingly alarmed by the NBA’s deepening relationship with Rwanda despite its invasion of the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), its continued support for a rebel group that has committed war crimes, and the resulting major shifts in U.S. policy toward Rwanda. The NBA risks becoming complicit in sportswashing by a Rwandan government that systematically abuses human rights. That is contrary to the spirit of American sports.” “What is the NBA’s red line for accepting money from foreign governments that commit human rights abuses?” “What specific changes in U.S. policy toward a country would lead the NBA to change or end a partnership with that country’s government? Do U.S. government actions against Rwanda since 2024 meet that standard?" Thank you to @SenJeffMerkley (D-OR) and @MarshaBlackburn (R-TN) for raising this with Adam Silver, Mark Tatum, and the NBA. Amnesty International also has a petition to the NBA on this issue.

Deeply disturbing. bbc.com/news/articles/c3lylj…

On Oct. 14, U.N. Special Representative for #Libya @HannaTetteh told the Security Council that Libya spent $8.9 billion on fuel imports in the first nine months of 2026, and that 30–50% was lost to smuggling, worth $2.4–$4.4 billion. Annualized, those figures imply losses of up to nearly $6 billion a year, consistent with the scale of fuel smuggling documented in The Sentry’s November 2025 report, Inside Job: Libya’s Fuel Smuggling Escalation. The impact is clear: fuel smuggling drains public finances, enriches private interests, and leaves Libyans facing shortages. Read our report: thesentry.org/reports/inside…

Malian and Russian forces are back in #Kidal, six months after being pushed out by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and JNIM. “Kidal is a symbol, and it is a powerful symbol,” said Justyna Gudzowska at The Sentry. “The big problem is not taking Kidal, but holding it.” Read the latest in @FinancialTimes: ft.com/content/bb6cc173-8daf…

We're encouraged by the enforcement action of the Dutch authorities of the European Timber Regulation following a recent investigation and seizure of 375 tons (equivalent to 16 truckloads) of illegally sourced azobé wood by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. These hardwood shipments came from Gabon, a country that forms part of the Congo Basin, the world's second-largest tropical rainforest. Illegal logging in the Congo Basin contributes to deforestation, which not only destroys wildlife habitats and worsens climate change, but also hurts local communities who rely on the forest for food, shelter, and income. nvwa.nl/actueel/nieuws/2026/…