Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have extended joint military operations against an armed militia called the Allied Democratic Forces in the east of the DRC.
The operation dubbed ‘Shujaa’ began last November and expired at the end of May. The extension comes amid continued attacks against civilians in eastern DRC.
The Allied Democratic Forces is a militia that is originally from Uganda. Its fighters fled to the east of the DRC in the 1990’s after suffering heavy casualties in a battle with the Ugandan army.
Congolese officials accuse the militia of killing more than 1000 civilians in the eastern territory of Beni since 2017.
Uganda sent about 1700 troops to the east of the DRC last November to fight against the ADF after two bomb explosions rocked the capital Kampala.
Kampala accused the ADF of carrying out the bombings.
Army officials in Uganda and the DRC say the operation against the rebels has destroyed several of their strongholds in eastern DRC.
They plan to step up the hunt against the rebels to pacify the troubled region.
The US government designated the ADF as a terrorist organisation in 2021 for reportedly having links to the Islamic State. -Reporting by Chris Ocamringa from Kinshasa
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