(Beni) Uganda launched Tuesday in consultation with Kinshasa a military operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) against rebel positions of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), accused by the Congo of massacres of civilians and by Kampala of recent attacks claimed by the jihadist organization Islamic State (IS).
Airstrikes and artillery fire from Uganda were reported by official sources in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The entry into eastern DRC of Ugandan troops on the ground, at the Nobili border post (North Kivu), was then reported by various witnesses and sources, supported by amateur videos.
“Targeted and concerted actions with the Ugandan army began today with airstrikes and artillery fire from Uganda on the positions of ADF terrorists in the DRC,” said on Twitter in the morning on Twitter. Minister of Communication and Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya.
“We launched joint air and artillery strikes against ADF camps with our Congolese allies,” Ugandan army spokeswoman Flavia Byekwaso also said on the social network. At the end of the day, she affirmed that the intended targets had been “reached with precision”, adding that the hunt for “terrorists” would continue “during ground operations”.
“For the moment, the Congolese special forces supported by the Ugandan special units will carry out search and control operations to clean and secure the ADF positions affected by the strikes this morning”, also said in the evening in a DRC army spokesperson Léon Richard Kasonga communicated. Communication supplemented by a new tweet from the government spokesperson: “it was agreed […] to continue operations in depth by the special forces of the two countries ”, indicated Patrick Muyaya.
At 5 am, the chiefdom (administrative entity) of Watalinga “woke up to the sound of heavy weapons fire” from a Ugandan border village, local civil society president Zawadi Ngandanodette told AFP. The explosions caused panic among the population, but the situation then calmed down, he added.
According to other witnesses, explosions were also heard in the neighboring province of Ituri, towards Boga and Tchabi, areas known to harbor numerous ADF rebels.
In the afternoon, a humanitarian worker present at the border saw in Nobili “a column of Ugandan soldiers”, on foot, “very well armed, with armored vehicles following them”, entering Congolese territory. According to a source within the United Nations, these soldiers were heading towards Kamango, a locality located some 8 km to the northwest.
“Common enemy”
An adviser to the DRC presidency on Sunday confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity information from diplomatic sources that President Felix Tshisekedi had authorized the Ugandan army to cross the border to fight ADF rebels. He added, however, that “all procedures should be respected, particularly at the level of Parliament”.
This authorization is not viewed favorably by all Congolese, some pointing the finger at the role played by Ugandan and Rwandan neighbors in the destabilization of eastern DRC for nearly 30 years.
The Congolese Minister of Communication had for his part assured Monday that there were “no Ugandan troops” in the DRC, but that “targeted and concerted actions” were “envisaged with the Ugandan army to fight terrorists of the ADF, our common enemy ”.
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 installed since 1995 in eastern Congolese, where they have established themselves and are considered the deadliest of the multiple armed groups raging in the region.
Since April 2019, some of their attacks have been claimed by ISIS, which designates the group as its “Province of Central Africa” (Iscap). Last March, the United States placed the ADF among the “terrorist groups” affiliated with ISIS jihadists.
Uganda has accused “a local group linked to the ADF” of being the perpetrator of a double suicide bombing that killed four people on November 16 in Kampala and was claimed by ISIS. The attack came after a bomb attack on a restaurant in the capital on October 23 and a suicide bombing on a bus near Kampala two days later.
North Kivu and the neighboring province of Ituri have been under siege since early May, with civilian authorities replaced by army and police officers. Despite this exceptional measure, the army was unable to prevent the massacre of nearly 1,200 civilians during this period, according to a report by the Kivu Security Barometer (KST).