Uganda says troops to stay in Congo as long as needed to defeat ADF

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03/12/2021 20:19

By Hereward Holland and Elias Biryabarema
    KINSHASA, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Uganda said on Friday that its
troops sent this week into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
would stay as long as needed to defeat Islamist militants, with
the progress of the mission to be evaluated after two months.
    Uganda and Congo launched a joint operation this week, but
have so far shared few details about its size or expected
duration, even as some voiced alarm about the presence of
Ugandan troops on Congolese soil.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SM21R
    At least 1,700 Ugandan soldiers have so far crossed into
eastern Congo to join Congolese forces battling the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group aligned with Islamic
State, two security sources and local media said on Friday.
    The Ugandan defence ministry did not confirm how many troops
had been deployed, but said infantry, artillery, armoured and
special forces would be in Congo under Operation Shujja, which
means hero in Swahili.
    In its first clear indication of the duration of the planned
operation, Uganda's Ministry of Defence said in a statement that
the operation would be reviewed after two months to gauge its
progress against the ADF.
    "The duration of this operation will be determined by the
military-strategic end-state... to defeat the rebels and defeat
their will to fight," Major General Kayanja Muhanga said in a
video posted to Twitter.
    The campaign will target four ADF camps: Yayuwa, Tondoli,
Beni One and Beni Two, he said.
    Joint forces have already conducted search operations in the
wake of air and artillery strikes against suspected ADF bases in
the forests of eastern Congo earlier this week, according to
both countries' military.
    Hundreds of Ugandan soldiers and dozens of armoured vehicles
have been seen crossing the border at Nobili since the offensive
started on Nov 30.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SM21R The two security sources with
knowledge of the mission said another 300 Ugandan troops were
expected to arrive imminently.
    The scale of the deployment suggests it is the largest
foreign intervention in Congo in over a decade, apart from a
U.N. peacekeeping operation, said Pierre Boisselet from Kivu
Security Tracker, which monitors unrest in the region.
    Congo's government spokesman did not immediately respond to
a request for comment about the number of Ugandan soldiers in
Congo.
    "Deployments are still going on, so I can't say whether we
have a battalion yet, or brigade or whatever," Uganda's army
spokeswoman Flavia Byekwaso told Reuters.
    Uganda blamed the ADF for a triple suicide bombing in its
capital Kampala on Nov. 16, which killed seven people, including
the bombers.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2SK1TA
    The ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in
Congo since the late 1990s. It pledged allegiance to Islamic
State in mid-2019 and is accused of killing hundreds of
villagers in frequent raids over the past two years.
    Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some of the
ADF's violence, including the recent bombings in Uganda, but
United Nations researchers have found no evidence Islamic State
exerts command and control over ADF operations.

 (Reporting by Hereward Holland and Elias Biryabarema
Additional reporting by Erikas Mwisi Kambale
Writing by Hereward Holland
Editing by Peter Graff)
 ((hereward.holland@thomsonreuters.com; +254 20 499 1232;
Reuters Messaging:
hereward.holland.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))