Islamic State
Transnational militant organisation operating across multiple regions; its Central Africa affiliate blocks Ebola response access in Ituri, DRC.
Last refreshed: 9 June 2026 · Appears in 2 active topics
How does Islamic State's grip on Mambasa prevent Ebola containment in Ituri?
Timeline for Islamic State
Controlled Mambasa territory preventing health worker access and contact tracing
Pandemics and Biosecurity: $112m for vaccines, none for the wardsMentioned in: First Trump official quits over the war
Iran Conflict 2026Mentioned in: Iran army moves into schools and mosques
Iran Conflict 2026Mentioned in: Iraq: force majeure; oil goes nowhere
Iran Conflict 2026- How is Islamic State blocking the Ebola response in Congo?
- Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP) controls Mambasa territory in Ituri Province, preventing health workers from conducting contact tracing and blocking vaccine delivery in ISCAP-held areas.Source: Lowdown briefing
- Is Islamic State still active in the DRC in 2026?
- Yes. ISCAP, IS's Central Africa affiliate, continues to operate in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. Its control of Mambasa is directly obstructing the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola response.
- What happened to the Islamic State caliphate?
- Coalition military operations dismantled IS's territorial caliphate by March 2019. The organisation survived as a dispersed insurgency with active provincial affiliates across Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, and Central Asia.
Background
Islamic State (IS) is a transnational militant organisation that declared a caliphate in June 2014, holding an estimated 8 million people at its territorial peak across Iraq and Syria. Coalition military operations dismantled the physical caliphate by March 2019, but IS has persisted as a dispersed insurgency operating through provincial affiliates across the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and Central Asia. Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP), operating principally in North Kivu and Ituri, DRC, has been active since at least 2017.
During the Iran conflict, IS was cited as a continuing counterterrorism concern by departing US National Counterterrorism Centre director Joe Kent, who stated that Iran 'posed no imminent threat' while IS remained active. In Iraq, IS-linked instability formed part of the security backdrop against which Iraqi authorities declared force majeure on foreign-operated oilfields.
ISCAP's control of Mambasa territory in Ituri Province is a direct obstacle to the 2026 Bundibugyo Ebola response. Health workers cannot safely conduct contact tracing or deliver treatment in ISCAP-held areas, and CEPI-funded vaccine supply lines cannot reliably reach the affected population. The access-denial effect in an outbreak with an estimated R0 of 2.51 creates conditions for undetected transmission chains that could seed cases into Uganda.
