Uganda and Congo launch joint air, artillery strikes against Islamist militants - Uganda military (updated)

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30/11/2021 09:19

(Adds background, context)
    NAIROBI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Uganda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo launched joint air and artillery strikes
against the Islamist militia group Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF) on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Ugandan military said. 
    "This morning, we have launched joint air and artillery
strikes against ADF camps with our Congolese allies," said a
tweet from the account of the spokesperson of the Ugandan army.
    The ADF is an Islamist rebel group that initially fought
against the Uganda government from bases in western Uganda.
    The group was however pushed out of the region and 
subsequently fled to the jungles of eastern Congo where they
have been blamed for thousands of deaths.
    Patrick Muyaya, Congo's government spokesman, did not
immediately respond to a request for comment.
    On Monday, the government of the Democratic Republic of
Congo denied https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congo-denies-agreeing-joint-operations-with-ugandan-army-2021-11-29
 agreeing to joint operations with Uganda's army to track down
the ADF, insisting the two countries were only sharing
intelligence.    
    ADF, which is allied with the Islamic State, claimed
responsibility for the Nov. 16 suicide bombings in the heart of
the Ugandan capital which killed seven people, including the
three bombers, and injured dozens more.
     The November 16 attack was the third Islamic State has
claimed in Uganda. It also claimed responsibility for an attack
at a pork restaurant in a suburb of Kampala on October 23 that
killed a waitress while a third attack on October 8 killed no
one.

 (Reporting by Ayenat Mersie, Elias Biryabarema and Hereward
Holland; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)