Operation Shujaa launched to fight against the remnants of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo has so far registered overwhelming success as dozens dozens of terrorists have been arrested and a couple of their camps destroyed.
The Islamist rebels who have based in Eastern part of DRC for over two decades, are accused of looting and meting war crimes on civilians in both Uganda and Congo including high profile murders witnessed in Uganda over the past couple of years.
Joint security forces of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on November 30 launched both air and artillery strikes against the ADF camps. The strikes were followed by search operations in the hit camps to ascertain the impact and progress of the operation, according to Brig Gen Flavia Byekwaso, the Defence spokesperson.
Now, in a joint statement on Saturday, Byekwaso and the spokesperson of DRC army, Kasonga Cibangu, say “preliminary results of the air strikes and artillery on November 30, 2021 show 31 Congolese hostages released, 34 ADF terrorists captured and 4 enemy camps destroyed.”
The two forces say they are currently engaged in road construction and rehabilitation works to facilitate and further secure the movement of soldiers and the displaced population particularly on the Mbau-Kamango and Nobili axes and Kamango-Semulimi-Beni.
The joint military action came shortly after Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi authorized Uganda’s troops to enter into Congo to help fight the rebel group blamed for attacks in eastern Congo that have killed more than 1,000 people over the past several years. The attacks have become more frequent in recent months.
At least four civilians were killed less than a month ago in Kampala when suicide bombers detonated their explosives at parliamentary avenue and Central Police Station in Kampala.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the explosions, saying they were carried out by Ugandans. Ugandan authorities blamed the attacks on the Allied Democratic Forces, an extremist group that has been allied with the IS group since 2019.
The ADF was established in the early 1990s in Uganda. The Ugandan military later forced the rebels into eastern Congo, where many rebel groups are able to operate because the central government has limited control there.
In order to gain the loyalty of the population in DRC where the operations are happening and reverse the harmful propaganda instilled in them by the ADF, the two forces say they have launched a vast awareness campaign and are carrying out civil-military actions.