Seven suspected ADF rebels were killed in clashes with DR Congo army on Saturday, May 21, 2022.
According to Radio Okapi, the incident happened in the villages of Mabono and Bahatsa in the sector of Ruwenzori in the territory of Beni in North Kivu.
The spokesman for Sokola 1 military operations in the region, Captain Antony Mwalushayi, said two soldiers were also killed.
Four weapons, including a machine gun and three AK47s, were recovered
He said that farmers who were in their fields in the zone of the clashes were protected by the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC).
Meanwhile, five new dead bodies were found on Saturday by locals in the Apakolo and Pakanza villages (Ituri), about ten kilometers from National Road number 4 towards Beni in North Kivu.
This discovery brings to eleven the number of civilians killed in the space of two days in this area by the ADF rebels.
Among the victims are four cocoa buyers who were shot dead in Kazaroho, a neighboring entity.
The initial toll reported six people killed and six others kidnapped as well as ten motorcycles burned, during an incursion on Thursday by suspected ADF rebels in Kazaroho.
Last week, Uganda hinted at pulling troops from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo in two weeks, after a joint operation against Islamist insurgents since late last year.
“Operation Shujaa will officially cease in about 2 weeks according to our original agreement,” tweeted UPDF land forces commander, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, using the code name Shujaa which is Swahili for “hero”.
“It was supposed to last for 6 months. Unless I get further instructions from our Commander-in-Chief or CDF (chief of defence forces), I will withdraw all our troops from DRC in 2 weeks,” added Kainerugaba.
But Congo government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said later on Tuesday that the terms and timeline of Uganda’s withdrawal would need to be agreed by both countries’ leaders before it could go ahead.
“Before we decide to end what has been convened there will be chief of staff meetings to evaluate the situation,” Muyaya told a press briefing.
Uganda’s deployment of at least 1,700 soldiers constituted the largest foreign intervention in Congo in over a decade, apart from a United Nations peacekeeping operation.
By Radio Okapi