The congolose military authorities have finally released privates Joseph Okello and Michael Kwemoi from Busanza detach under the 35th battalion in Kisoro district. The release of the duo comes three days after they were picked up by the Congolese army- the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) troops on Monday this week.
The two soldiers were walking on the no man’s land in Busigi village, Gitovu Busanza Sub-county in Kisoro District near the border with DR Congo’s grouping of Busanza in Rutshuru territory, North Kivu province when Congolese soldiers arrested them. On Thursday afternoon, FARDC officials brought the two soldiers to Busanza border while tied with ropes and handed them over to Ugandan security authorities.
Hajji Shafique Ssekandi, the Kisoro Resident District Commissioner has confirmed the release of the soldier to Ugandan military authorities. He says that the DRC military decided to release the soldiers following talks with their Ugandan counterparts, which confirmed that they had no intention of jeopardizing Congolese security at the border.
FARDC soldiers control the border of Busanza and neighboring areas after losing the nearby and main border of Bunagana in Jomba grouping to the March 23 Movement rebels on June 13 this year following renewed fighting that started in March in Rutsshuru territory. UPDF also stepped up deployment along the border with DR Congo in Kisoro to prevent the fighting from spilling to Uganda.
