Uganda killed over 500 Daesh/ISIS allied rebels in Congo, says president

By Godfrey Olukya and Hassan Isilow

KAMPALA, Uganda / JOHANNESBURG (AA) - Ugandan armed forces have killed 567 members of the Daesh /ISIS-affiliated rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo since December 2021, President Yoweri Museveni said in an address on Thursday night.

The Daesh-linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group, which has been fighting to overthrow the Ugandan government since the 1990s, was overpowered and they fled to Congo.

Ugandan forces and the Congolese army have been conducting a joint operation to flush out the rebels who often attack villages and kill civilians in both countries. Museveni said 50 terrorists affiliated to the group have also been nabbed since December 2021.

“We will kill all of them if they do not surrender. We have the capacity to hunt and kill them ... They have fled from nearby forests to a place called Mambasa," Museveni said in a televised address to the nation.

He said the Congolese government has allowed them to enter their territory to go after ADF militants.

Museveni urged Ugandans to stay calm in the wake of increased terror threats and be vigilant of their surroundings, including in places of worship.

"Don't allow anyone you don't know to enter your church, to enter your mosque," he said, urging communities to isolate and report strangers to authorities.

Last week, Ugandan police thwarted a bomb attack at a Pentecostal church in the capital, Kampala after a 28-year-old man attempted to enter the grounds of Rubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral with an explosive device in his backpack.​​​​​​​