At least 20 combatants of an international private military force were killed or wounded after being ambushed in the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) on September 14, as reported by the news service Reuters. They are linked to prominent far-right conservative Erik Prince, who is closely linked to the MAGA movement and President Donald Trump.
The survivors include former U.S. Army Green Beret Tim Kennedy, who was reportedly transported to Washington D.C. ‘s Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for gunshot wounds. Normally private contractors are not admitted to military hospitals, but Walter Reed has not yet released a statement on Kennedy or his condition.. Other combatants included several Congolese servicemen, and at least one member of New Zealand ’s Special Air Service was killed. Information was not forthcoming from the Congolese government for the incident which occurred in the mineral-rich eastern part of the country.
Prince founded and later sold the military contractor Blackwater Security Company in 1996. Since then he has formed other, similar private security companies including Global Vectus Global, the firm that employed the personnel involved in the September firefight. He rationalized his involvement as necessary to assist conflict areas unable to provide stability within their borders.
“If so many of these countries around the world are incapable of governing themselves, it’s time for us to just put the imperial hat back on, to say, we’re going to govern those countries… ‘cause enough is enough, we’re done being invaded. … You can say that about pretty much all of Africa, they’re incapable of governing themselves,” he explained in a 2024 interview on his podcast platform “Off Leash!”
A former U.S. Navy SEAL, Prince has been in strategic locations throughout the continent, including Libya and Somalia over the past 20 years. He has called for the United States to resume colonial rule over African countries as a necessity to stabilize the world.
In 2025 Erik Prince signed a $700 million contract to give military aid to the Congolese government. The country is embroiled in conflict with internal rebels and hostile forces over control of the rich deposits of cobalt, copper, lithium, and tantalum in its eastern region.
Prince continues to provide logistics and security services directly throughout Africa and the Caribbean, including Haiti, where Vectus Global is actively suppressing the gang infestation there as contracted by that country’s government.
