16 ADF terrorists ‘killed in eastern DRC’
A picture taken on November 13, 2018, shows Tanzanian soldiers from the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco) patrolling against Ugandan Allied Democratic Force (ADF) rebels in Beni.
What you need to know:
- Originally from and based in western Uganda, ADF is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
- The group was formed in the 1990s with the goal of overthrowing the Ugandan government led by Yoweri Museveni.
Congolese and Ugandan armies say their operation against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a terrorist group, is bearing fruit in in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Leaders of the joint military operation say their weekend offensive against the group allied to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) operating in central Africa killed at least 16 terrorists.
Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) Commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba on Monday said they were making "good progress" on the North Kivu front.
"Last night (Sunday) we killed 16 ADF terrorists, South of Busunga/Nobili border point,” he told Nation.Africa.
“We also rescued more than 12 children who were enslaved by ADF! In our next phase, we are going to target all ADF commanders!”
He warned women and children captured by the terrorists to try and stay away from the fighters to avoid being killed in the planned offensive.
Originally from and based in western Uganda, ADF is an Islamist rebel group in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The group was formed in the 1990s with the goal of overthrowing the Ugandan government led by Yoweri Museveni.
Within ADF ranks are former officers of the Ugandan army and volunteers from Tanzania and Somalia. Funded by the illegal mining and logging industries in DRC, ADF has created 15 well organised camps in the Rwenzori Mountains, located on the DRC-Uganda border.
According to Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya, the terrorists are condemned to wander the forests of Kivu, from where they plan and launch attacks against security forces and civilians in adjacent villages.
"The latest bombardments that our forces have administered to the enemy have pushed the latter to leave the territory around Nzubule and Lusulube rivers to find themselves in the Mwalika valley,” DRC government spokesman and Minister of Communication Patrick Muyaya said.
He said the pooling of the armies drawn from the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) and UPDF is a "successful experiment" in the anti-ADF operations.
Besides the two armies, the rebels and terrorisits are being fought by the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco).
The three forces recently held a meeting in Beni, North Kivu, to define a concerted strategy to better track down the armed groups.
They defined respective operational zones and the limits of intervention of each party in the mission launched at the end of November 2021.
"The main thing is to know who is doing what and in which area precisely," said Monusco's commander, Brazilian Lieutenant General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa.
