Three Allied Democratic Front (ADF) rebel fighters have been killed in a joint military operation by the armies of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A military statement says the three were found in Ntoroko-Mboga in Ituri Province about 14 kilometres South-east of Mboga town on Thursday. This follows another joint operation, on Wednesday, by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces-UPDF and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo- FARDC in which two other suspected ADF rebels were killed seven kilometres outside Mboga town.
The group has been blamed for thousands of deaths in the provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, and for bomb attacks last year in Uganda.
Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Deus Williams Achungwire, the 7th Mountain Battalion commander, the joint forces cornered the ADF rebels who had infiltrated the remote villages looting food stuff and terrorizing communities. “Their targets are specifically to loot food and acquire medicine, and by use of machetes, they can hack one or two people for publicity…” Lieutenant-Colonel Achungwire said.
Lieutenant-Colonel Achungwire added that when the joint forces captured the ADF camps of Lusulube and Tondoli One and Two, the rebels decided to split into smaller groups to stretch the forces.
Major Peter Mugisa, the Operation Shujaa spokesperson said items including four sub-machine guns, 34 rounds of ammunition, mobile phones, explosive devices and simcards among others were also recovered in both operations.
In November 2021, the UPDF secured permission from the DRC government to launch a joint operation against the ADF, a group that has been using bases in Eastern DRC to attack Uganda. Kampala accuses the rebel group of carrying out suicide bombings in the city, in November last year, in which three people died and several others were injured.
ADF has been operating from DRC for at least 25 years since they waged war against Uganda in October 1996. Among the many atrocities the group committed during the war was the June 1998 attack on Uganda Technical College – Kichwamba, in Kabarole District in which 80 students were burnt to death and 100 others abducted. Majority of those kidnapped died in captivity.
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