A series of massacres in eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the last three months underline the resurgence of a little known Islamist militant organization, the Alliance of Democratic Forces – National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU). On December 7, attacks believed to have been carried out by ADF-NALU in Oicha, in DRC’s North Kivu province, left at least 36 people dead. The group also reportedly massacred more than 250 people in total in North Kivu in 16 other separate incidents between October 2 and December 7 (IRIN, December 10, 2014). All these attacks followed similar patterns, with the assailants arriving at night and deliberately slaughtering women and children (al-Jazeera, December 7, 2014). In most of the attacks, crude weapons were used, including knives, axes, machetes, hammers, rocks and hoes, as well as some firearms. Typically, victims were blindfolded, using clothes or pieces of mosquito nets, before being butchered (IRIN, December 10, 2014). The recent growth of ADF-NALU – as well as its increased capabilities and allegations of links with other African Islamist militant groups such as al-Shabaab – fit into a broader pattern of Islamist militant groups spreading across several parts of the continent, including in Cameroon, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria and elsewhere.