DR Congo, Ugandan Defense Ministers To Harmonise Operations Against ADF Rebels
The meeting was held on Wednesday, Dec. 8, during which Gilbert Kabanda, the Defense Minister of DR Congo, who is a retired army doctor and Vincent Bamulangaki of Uganda, were accompanied by their close aides.
The Defense Ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have met in Bunia, eastern DR Congo to discuss how to “mutualise and harmonise the joint operations launched on Nov. 30, 2021 in eastern DR Congo against rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) by their armies.
The meeting was held on Wednesday, Dec. 8, during which Gilbert Kabanda, the Defense Minister of DR Congo, who is a retired army doctor and Vincent Bamulangaki of Uganda, were accompanied by their close aides.
“We are here as brothers,” Ugandan Defense Minister, Vincent Bamulangaki declared, adding that “you know we face the same enemy and we cannot remain without doing something when our brothers have problems. We are here to reinforce our cooperation.”
Speaking also, Captain Anthony Mwalushayi, the DR Congo army spokesperson, said “We are here in a joint operation with our friends of the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF)”, adding that “We have exchanged ideas with the authorities of the Ugandan army and have jointly evaluated the difficulties and we have found that there is a serious problem of roads.”
“Our military engineers of the FARDC and the UPDF are on the ground working on the issue as I speak to you. Within at least 48 hours, some of the roads would be practicable,” the army spokesperson added.
On Nov. 30, Ugandan air force and artillery units pounded zones in Ituri and North Kivu which are border provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo where ADF rebels have bases from which they have been accused by Uganda of having planned recent attacks on Kampala.
Following the attacks on Kampala, Ugandan ground troops entered DR Congo through the Nobili border post in North Kivu and installed an advance base where they and their DR Congo counterparts, have been carrying out mopping up operations on rebel camps that they have bombed.
Roads in the zones are in very bad shape which is why the Ugandans have, with the agreement of the Congolese authorities, begun work on improving the situation of the roads in the areas where the joint operations are going on.
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