Faridah N Kulumba
Africa-Press – Uganda. On Christmas day the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) attacked a remote village in Western Uganda and set ablaze on a home killing 3 people who were inside. The 3 people were killed by the ADF jihadists a deadly militia group affiliated with the Islamic State group including an old woman with her two grandchildren were all burnt to death. The Christmas arson attack comes a week after 10 people were killed in a Ugandan district near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the same militia group.
UPDF’s evacuation from DRC
Last week the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) completed the total withdrawal from the war-torn province of North Kivu, eastern DR Congo. This followed the DR Congo government declining to renew the mandate of East African Community Regional Force (EACRF) troops that were in the province under a peacekeeping mission that expired on December 8, 2023. Congo’s decline was sparked by a section of civilians and political activists accusing the troops of failure to launch an assault against the March 23 Movement (M23) rebels.
UPDF complete withdrawal
The news of the UPDF’s complete withdrawal from the DR Congo was confirmed by Col Michael Walaka Hyeroba, commander of the Ugandan troops who said that all the troops that had been deployed under the 9th and 27th Battalions in Rutshuru territory have been fully withdrawn with their military equipment. At the beginning of this month, a contingent of the UPDF in the DRC, part of the East African Community Regional Force (EACRF), started withdrawing from the country. This was after the Ugandan army had received an order from the above to pull out of the violence-plagued eastern DRC.
Dissatisfaction
The government of Uganda is dissatisfied with the DR Congo’s decision to decline to renew the mandate of EACRF. Col Hyeroba lamented that the decision to withdraw EACRF troops from North Kivu province was made prematurely because the disarmament and integration program was not achieved. He suggested that the problem in the area can only be solved by dialogue, not war. The mandate of troops from Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, and South Sudan deployed in North Kivu province in late 2022 was to reclaim positions that were previously held by the M23 rebels after they defeated the Armed Forces of Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) soldiers and to establish a buffer zone to prevent further clashes between M23 rebels and FARDC soldiers. This was in accordance with the resolutions made and approved by the East African Regional Heads of State conclave held on April 21, 2022, in Nairobi, Extra-Ordinary Summit of East African Presidents (Bujumbura) on February 4, 2023, and the decisions of the Chief of Defense Forces of February 9, 2023, in Nairobi.
Where does UPDF withdraw leave Shujaa?
According to the military other troops contributed by Uganda in eastern DR Congo in a joint military operation with their Congolese counterparts will continue the hunt against the Allied Democratic Forces rebels. In November 2021, Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint operation against the ADF, an armed group allied with Islamic State. On 13 December 2021, the President of DR Congo Felix Tshisekedi announced that the Ugandan UPDF troop’s presence in his country was temporary. President Tshisekedi vowed to ensure that the presence of Ugandan troops in DRC, where they are fighting an Islamist militant group alongside Congolese forces, was strictly limited to the time strictly necessary for this operation. In May last year, then Uganda’s land forces commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba tweeted that Operation Shujaa was to officially cease in about 2 weeks according to the two nations’ original agreement, but until today UPDF is still there.
ADF terror this year
ADF has made several attacks on Uganda in 2023 leaving more than 60 people dead. In June, the ADF rebels attacked Uganda and killed 41 people, including 37 students who were burned, shot, or hacked to death with machetes in a sickening attack on Mpondwe-Lhubiriha School in Kasese District, about 1.2 miles from the DRC border. In October a British tourist and his new South African wife were shot dead in an “ambush” at a Ugandan safari park while on their honeymoon. According to the statement that was issued by the Uganda police, the two foreign holidaymakers were touring the Queen Elizabeth National Park in the southwest of the country with their local guide when the trio were gunned down in a “cowardly” attack by the terrorist. Ugandan police blamed the attack on the ADF. The recent attacks happened on 19 December in which 10 people were killed and the 26 December attack where 3 people were burnt to death.
Revenge
The president of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni after the June and October attacks while addressing the nation about the security state of Uganda said that the UPDF operating in DR Congo killed more than 560 members of the ADF. In August, top officers from the UPDF issued a statement saying that they had killed one of the ADF militia commander who was identified by only one name, Fazul, a Tanzanian national who had been operating mostly in Mwalika valley in eastern DR Congo’s North Kivu province. For the security services to deal with “remnants” of the group that continue to pose a threat President Museveni ordered the recruitment of more Local Defence Units in western Uganda to bring back security in the area. One day after the Christmas attack, the UPDF announced that they had killed 2 people who were suspected to be behind the attack.
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