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Region backing us on ADF strikes, says govt
Soldiers patrol Manzalaho near Beni City in DR Congo following an attack by members of the ADF rebel group on February 18, 2020. On Tuesday, Uganda carried both ground and air airstrikes, hitting at least four bases of the ADF rebels. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The government says regional countries that have experienced terrorism are in support of the intervention.
The government says it has received full backing of East African partner states to deploy troops in eastern DR Congo to rout the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels.
The State minister for Foreign Affairs in-charge of International Affairs, Mr Henry Oryem Okello, said the regional countries bought into Uganda’s pre-emptive ground and air strikes after intelligence on the activities of ADF in eastern DR Congo was shared with them.
“Regional countries were in agreement with Uganda. Countries like Kenya and Tanzania that have had very serious experience of terrorism in the past have been cooperative with us. They have sent us messages of solidarity, intelligence officers, and [their] intelligence organisations are working closely with us on this matter,” Minister Oyrem said while appearing yesterday on Morning@NTV show.
On Tuesday, Uganda carried both ground and air airstrikes, hitting at least four ADF bases in the DR Congo.
Ground troops were then quickly deployed to rack up the operation.
Uganda accuses the rebel group of carrying out the recent terror bombings in Kampala City and its suburbs and on a bus that was plying the Kampala-Masaka highway, leaving at least seven people dead and tens injured.
The rebel group is also accused of killing 147 people in 30 separate terror attacks in the country between July 2001 and January 2021.
Members of the ADF were defeated in Western Uganda before fleeing and finding haven in the remote and densely forested eastern DRC where they have been holed up since 2007.
Mr Oryem said he met Rwandan diplomats and briefed them about Uganda’s operations in DR Congo.
“Rwanda having no objection on the matter means that they are not against us and this is positive,” Mr Oryem said.
“They knew we were going to attack and preparations were in high gear, so if they were to object, they would have objected earlier, even though we did not get direct positive support, we are happy that they did not object,” he added.
“I can assure you that we have not lost any single asset, we have lost one single soldier because the initial strategic attack was monitored from the air and the attack by artillery was in preposition with the right global positioning system where the enemies are,” he said.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Uganda and Rwanda carried out operations against negative forces in DR Congo, but ended up fighting each other twice in Kisangani, DR Congo. The fighting escalated into allegations by each country of supporting groups that want to use eastern DR Congo as a launch pad to destabilise the other. Both countries deny the allegations.
The DR Congo government spokesman, Mr Patrick Muyaya, said: “We take care of the concerns of our compatriots. We know that this is an operation that some compatriots, for good reasons, have doubts about. But we, the government, have chosen the economic development of the region. There are choices to be made and we have made the choice to move forward.”
DR Congo accused Uganda of plunder after the UPDF operations in eastern DRC between 1997 and 2003.
Mr Muyaya said while they will not forget those incidents, they have to move forward to attain development.
Uganda and DRC have drawn up plans to start construction of a tarmac road in eastern DRC that is intended to open up the east of the country and boost economies of both countries.
UN perspective
The UN Stabilisation Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO) force commander, Lt Gen Marcos de sa’ Affonso da Costa, yesterday visited Uganda and met the Uganda Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Wilson Mbasu Mbadi, over the ADF hunt in eastern DR Congo.
MONUSCO spokesman said they will not support the Uganda operations because their mandate is limited to only helping the DR Congo military.
However, they said they aren’t opposed to the Uganda deployment but there is a need for all stakeholders to coordinate for strategic and safety reasons.
Several legislators of the East African Community also backed Uganda’s deployment of troops in DRC.
Burundi’s legislator Christopher Nduwayo told NTV Uganda that the deployment is important to deal with terrorists that have made the region unstable.
Mr Nduwayo said Uganda as a partner should also ask them to join in the hunt for the ADF rebels in DRC since they have been able to carry out joint operations against Al Shabaab in Somalia.
South Sudan legislator Kennedy Mukulia supported the deployments saying it will create peace in the region.
Ugandan legislator Paul Musamali said the operations were long overdue because the ADF had made regional trade difficult.
“ADF got a safe haven in the DRC. We want to have a peaceful DRC and provide a market [for the region]. We want DRC to join the EAC, but we can’t sell commodities there if there is insecurity,” Mr Musamali said.
