UPDF step up deployment point in eastern DRC in anti-ADF operation
On the second day of an operation against the notorious ADF rebel group initiated in coordination with Kinshasa, Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) troops increased their deployment in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, witnesses reported.
On the second day of an operation against the notorious ADF rebel group initiated in coordination with Kinshasa, Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) troops increased their deployment in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, witnesses reported.
Tony Kitambala, a freelance writer working in North Kivu province, reported at Nobili on the border, “They are arriving aboard armoured cars, with escorts from members of the local security agencies.”
After its armed forces started air and artillery strikes from Ugandan territory, UPDF soldiers were seen moving into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday.
The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group linked to the Islamic State and responsible for atrocities in eastern DRC and attacks in Uganda’s capital, is the intended target.
The DRC claimed over the weekend that it had authorized a Ugandan offer to pursue the ADF on its country, where the group has been hiding since the mid-1990s.
“Air attacks on ADF positions continued last evening,” according to a Nobili relief worker, but the situation was peaceful on Wednesday.
“The UPDF (Ugandan armed forces) has been bolstering its troops with manpower, ammo, and military trucks this morning (Wednesday),” he claimed.
“We attacked terrorist camps in the forest,” DRC army spokesman Leon Richard Kasonga told reporters late Wednesday.
“We are on the ground for far-reaching operations,” he added, without specifying the number of personnel on the ground or the duration of the mission.
Congolese forces were on their way from neighboring South Kivu to Beni, the seat of North Kivu province, according to a top DRC military officer.
Several ADF sites in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri province to the northeast were targeted by the bombardments.
Brig Flavia Byekwaso, a spokesperson for the UPDF, claimed on Tuesday that the bombardments had hit their targets and that ground operations will hunt out “terrorists.”
Blasts and massacres
Historically, the ADF was a Ugandan rebel coalition whose main members were Muslims hostile to President Museveni.
In 1995, the group set up shop in eastern DRC, eventually becoming the deadliest of a slew of illegal forces in the volatile province.
The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo claims the ADF has killed over 6,000 civilians since 2013, while a reputable monitor, the Kivu Security Tracker, claims the ADF is responsible for over 1,200 killings in the region alone since 2017.
The ADF or a local organization associated with it has been accused by Ugandan authorities of carrying out or plotting a series of attacks this year.
In a country where many remember Uganda and Rwanda’s role in fuelling past unrest in the country’s east, the idea of Ugandan forces operating on DRC soil is divisive.
The DRC-Uganda pact was “unacceptable,” according to Denis Mukwege, a gynaecologist who earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for his work treating victims of sexual abuse in South Kivu.
In a tweet, he stated that there have been “25 years of huge crimes and plundering of our resources by our neighbors.” “Congolese, rise up! The country is in jeopardy!”
Other important personalities have questioned the agreement’s lack of transparency, which was reached without consultation with parliament or even an announcement by President Felix Tshisekedi.
“Country relationships evolve,” said government spokesman Patrick Muyaya on Wednesday.
“We understand our countrymen’s fears,” he said, adding that “we have made the decision to move on.”
