The Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) on Saturday released the first assessment of their joint military operations against rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), conducted since November 30 in Beni territory, northeastern DRC.
According to a statement jointly signed by FARDC spokesman,General Leon Richard Kasonga, and his UPDF counterpart, Flavia Byekwaso, 34, “ADF terrorists” were captured and four ADF bases got destroyed during the joint military operations. The security situation remains calm in the area since the beginning of the joint military operations.
In addition to the military operations, the two forces are currently engaged in road construction and rehabilitation projects to further facilitate and secure the movement for military personnel and displaced civilians.
As part of these operations, the two forces also launched an extensive awareness campaign and set up medical centres to combat the toxic propaganda distilled by the ADF rebels and their allies in local villages.
Since November 30, UPDF officially launched, in collaboration with FARDC, air and artillery operations against several positions of the notorious ADF rebels in DRC, a nightmare shared by Kinshasa and Kampala. Uganda accuses the ADF rebels of being behind recent terrorist attacks in the Ugandan capital.
A few hours after the launch of the joint military operations, the Ugandan army immediately deployed troops that crossed the border from Nobili in DRC’s North Kivu province.
At least, 1,700 Ugandan soldiers have already arrived on the Congolese soil since the beginning of the operations, accompanied by equipment, including about 100 vehicles of the troop transport and battle tanks, according to the Congolese and Ugandan authorities.
According to DRC’s local press outlet ActualiteCD, this is not the first military intervention by Ugandan forces against the ADF in Beni. In 2017, UPDF claimed that it killed more than 100 ADF rebels during strikes in Beni.
The DRC northeastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, long plagued by violence incurred by armed groups, especially the ADF rebels, had been under a state of siege since May 6 due to violence by armed groups, especially the ADF rebels. -Xinhua
