Uganda's military says major ADF base camp seized in eastern DRC

KAMPALA, July 11 (Xinhua) -- The Uganda Peoples' Defense Forces (UPDF) announced on Friday that they had seized a major military base belonging to a senior commander of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the eastern jungles of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Chris Magezi, military assistant to Chief of Defense Forces Muhoozi Kainerugaba, said on his official X account that the base was taken following air and artillery strikes.

"UPDF forces under Operation Shujaa in (the) eastern DRC have captured Allied Democratic Forces leader Musa Baluku's base camp in Apakwang, Ituri Province," Magezi said.

"After air and artillery strikes last Sunday morning, UPDF troops advanced and captured a huge camp that used to accommodate 1,000 to 1,500 terrorists and their families. This was achieved on Thursday," he added.

The Ugandan military, together with their Congolese counterparts, launched joint operations against the ADF in November 2021, shortly after the rebel group carried out bomb attacks in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

The ADF, an affiliate of the Islamic State in Central Africa, is a Ugandan rebel group entrenched in the jungles of the eastern DRC. It has been blamed for widespread attacks on villages in the region. Enditem