Uganda will withdraw its soldiers from the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo in two weeks, the military said on Tuesday, after a joint operation against Islamist terrorists that began late last year.
In December, President Yoweri Museveni’s administration dispatched hundreds of troops into east Congo to help the Congolese military in an attack on the Allied Democratic Forces’ camps (ADF). more info
“Operation Shujaa will formally end in around 2 weeks, as agreed,” Uganda’s ground forces commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba tweeted, using the code name Shujaa, which is Swahili for “hero.”
“It was meant to last six months. Unless I get additional orders from our Commander-in-Head or CDF (chief of defense forces), I will remove all of our soldiers from the Democratic Republic of the Congo in two weeks “Kainerugaba, Museveni’s son, joined in.
However, Congo government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya said later Tuesday that the conditions and timeframe of Uganda’s departure would need to be agreed upon by the presidents of both nations before it could take place.
“There will be chief of staff meetings to analyze the situation before we decide to discontinue what has been convened,” Muyaya said during a news conference.
Apart from a United Nations peacekeeping mission, Uganda’s deployment of at least 1,700 troops was the greatest foreign engagement in Congo in almost a decade.
The ADF originated as a Ugandan revolt but has been headquartered in Congo since the late 1990s. It declared allegiance to the Islamic State in mid-2019 and has been accused of murdering hundreds of people in numerous raids over the last two years.
There was no explanation for the anticipated Ugandan departure, nor was there an update on the progress of the ADF operation.
Uganda has implicated the organization for a triple suicide bombing in Kampala on November 16, which killed seven persons, including the bombers.
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