ITURI, DR CONGO: The joint forces of Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have killed 25 Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in Ituri.
Lt. Jules Ngongo, the spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) in Ituri province Friday said the ADF rebels were killed during a large-scale military operation on Wednesday.
“More than 25 ADF rebels and their Mai-Mai collaborators were killed at Komanda-Luna axis in Irumu, Ituri province. Others abandoned their positions during our large-scale military operations. In the theatre of these operations, we recovered dozens of weapons, among other things,” Ngongo said.
“During the operation, we also rescued 40 hostages in the town of Ndimo. Our mission is to hunt down all the rebels,” he added. Ngongo said the ADF rebels and Mai-Mai collaborators have been using the Otmaber-Kasoko road to conduct ambushes. “FARDC, working with the Ugandan army, have intensified their operations against armed elements. We are now hitting the ADF rebels who have been hiding in the forest of Otmaber and Ndimo on the Komanda-Luna axis.
“The objective of the operation is to destroy all the positions of these armed rebels who have been attacking civilians,” Ngongo said.
“To carry out these operations, we are asking for the unwavering support of our population, and we call upon them to embrace the patriotic flame of the joint forces,” he added.
Ngongo said the 40 rescued hostages had spent more than two months in the hands of the ADF.
On November 30, UPDF and FARDC launched operation Shujaa with dawn bombardments of four key ADF camps in Kambi Ya Yua, Tondoli, Belu 1 and Belu 2 in eastern Congo.
Military sources said during the bombardments, Musa Baluku, the ADF commander, was reportedly wounded, and that he has since temporarily handed over the command of the ADF to Bonge La Chuma, a Congolese.
Other ADF commanders who are hiding in Virunga jungles include Nasser Adbu Hamid Diiru, Elias Segujja aka Fezza, Sheikh Lumisa and Abdulrahman Wasswa aka PC Sentongo.
On Tuesday this week, Benjamin Kisokeranio, the head of the Jamil Mukulu ADF faction was arrested by the Congolese army at Uvira border point in South Kivu Province as he attempted to sneak into Burundian territory.
On the eve of Christmas last year, the joint forces of UPDF and FARDC also completely captured the much-revered ADF camp of Kambi Ya Yua.
Sitting on eight acres inside Virunga forest, Kambi Ya Yua, which served as the headquarters of ADF, was jointly occupied by about 600 ADF and the Islamic State of Central Africa Province terrorists.
Source: NewVision
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