Ugandan soldiers fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been told to keep their positions and await further orders.
Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) Commander Land Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba tweeted late Wednesday that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has ordered a stop to army movement.
Ugandan military, he added, will wait for a definitive pronouncement from Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the chairwoman of the East African Community, a regional group comprised of seven nations, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, and South Sudan.
Ugandan forces have been battling the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan rebel organization, in the jungles of eastern DRC since November as part of Operation Shujaa. The gang is also a Central African affiliate of the Islamic State.
President Kenyatta called for an immediate end of all violence in eastern DRC on Wednesday. In a statement, he stressed that all armed factions, foreign and domestic, should lay down their guns immediately and unconditionally and commit to a political process.
Kenyatta said that regional commanders would meet in Nairobi on Sunday to complete preparations for the deployment of a regional army in eastern DRC.
