The Republic of Uganda on Tuesday launched airstrikes and artillery attacks against the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group in eastern DR Congo, in a joint action with Congolese forces following deadly attacks in the Ugandan capital Kampala.
Congolese government spokesperson and Communications Minister Patrick Muyaya wrote on Twitter. “As announced, targeted and concerted action with the Ugandan army started today with airstrikes and artillery fire from Uganda against positions of the terrorist ADF in the DRC”
Spokesperson for the Ugandan armed forces tweeted also: “This morning, we have launched joint air and artillery strikes against ADF camps with our Congolese allies.”
Early on Tuesday, witness accounts reaching Beni in the border province of North Kivu, reported heavy artillery fire in the Watalinga axis, causing panic at the nearby frontier post of Kamango.
Explosions were heard also in the Boga and Tchabi districts which are known hideouts of the ADF in neighbouring Ituri province.
The strikes came two days after a senior Congolese source reported that President Felix Tshisekedi had given Uganda permission to pursue the ADF rebels on DR Congo soil.
On 16 November, four people were killed and 33 were injured in twin suicide bombings in Kampala, which police attributed to a “domestic terror group” linked to the ADF.
The DRC’s Catholic Church says ADF rebels have killed around 6,000 civilians since 2013 while a respected monitor, the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), blames it for more than 1,200 deaths in North Kivu’s Beni area alone since 2017.
The Ugandan authorities recently accused the ADF or a local group affiliated with it of carrying out or planning attacks.
The ADF was historically a Ugandan rebel coalition whose biggest group comprised Muslims opposed to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.