DRC authorizes Ugandan army to fight ADF rebels on its territory

Published on : 11/29/2021 – 10:29 AM

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has authorized the Ugandan army to cross the border to fight rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group, responsible for massacres in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, we learned on Sunday 29 November with the Congolese presidency.

In the east, the provinces of Ituri and North Kivu have been placed under a state of siege since May, with the civilian authorities replaced by army and police officers.

“Exchange of information“

Despite this exceptional measure, the army was unable to prevent the massacre of nearly 1,200 civilians during this period, according to an assessment by the Kivu Security Barometer (KST), which has experts in the areas of such violence. .

“President Tshisekedi has already lifted the option of allowing Ugandan troops to enter Congolese territory to hunt down ADF terrorists, together with the army and peacekeepers,” an adviser told AFP. Congolese presidency who requested anonymity.

“But Ugandan troops will not cross the border this evening or tomorrow. All procedures must be respected, especially at the level of Parliament and the command of the DRC Armed Forces,” he explained.

“We had been informed through our usual channels that President Tshisekedi authorized” Ugandan troops to fight the ADF on the Congolese side, a European diplomatic source confirmed to AFP.

Ugandan forces are already preparing to deploy in eastern DRC, as part of an upcoming mission to fight the ADF, two diplomatic sources told an AFP correspondent in Kampala on Sunday.

According to a Congolese government source, “Congolese and Ugandan officers are already working every day” together in the “exchange of information”.

“Provisional solution”

The Head of State “had promised us to formally authorize these operations of tracking ADF by the UPDF (Uganda People’s Defense Force) on Congolese soil”, reacted to AFP Antipas Mbusa Nyamuisi, spokesperson a delegation from the Nande community, the majority in the Beni region where the rebel group is particularly active.

“We are happy because President Félix Tshisekedi kept his word, listening to the point of view of more than 80% of the population of Beni and its surroundings, direct victim of abuses and massacres by the ADF”, he added. he added, believing that the Ugandan intervention is a “temporary solution” pending the reorganization of the Congolese army.

However, this authorization to cross the border is not viewed favorably by all Congolese, with some pointing to the role played by Ugandan and Rwandan neighbors in the destabilization of eastern DRC for nearly thirty years. years.

“If Ugandan troops enter the DRC, Rwanda will also send its own to our territory. And my fear is to see the two countries again settle scores at home,” reacts Augustin Kambale, a resident of Beni.

“Inviting the army of a country (Uganda) which has already waged war in the DRC to appropriate the country’s minerals is a mistake and an admission of the failure of the state of siege”, regrets Jean-Claude Katende, President of the African Association for Human Rights (Asadho).

Conflict

In 2000, the regular Rwandan and Ugandan armies clashed with heavy weapons in Kisangani, a major mining town in northeastern DRC, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

Uganda and Rwanda are regularly accused in UN and NGO reports of supporting armed groups operating in eastern Congo. More recently, the two countries also accuse the ADF rebels of being active in their respective territories.

Uganda has named the ADF responsible for a double suicide bombing that killed three and injured 33 in Kampala in November, three weeks after two bomb attacks in the capital, also blamed on the rebels. In early October, Rwanda also claimed to have arrested 13 ADF members who were preparing attacks in the country.

Originally, the ADF was a coalition of Ugandan armed groups, the largest of which was made up of Muslims opposed to the regime of President Yoweri Museveni. They have been living in eastern Congolese since 1995, where they have established themselves.

Since April 2019, some of their attacks have been claimed by the Islamic State organization, which designates the group as its “Province of Central Africa”. Last March, the United States placed the ADF among the “terrorist groups” affiliated with ISIS jihadists.

With AFP