Uganda: President Urges ADF Rebels to Surrender


January 10, 2024 Hour: 2:55 pm

Late on Tuesday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said the economic cost of fighting the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the jungles of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was high, and urged the group to surrender.

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Museveni, in a televised address, said that the resources spent on the joint operation with the Congolese troops to fight the rebels would have been used to fund other development issues.

“This is the money which we should be using for your [citizen’s] development. But we can’t ignore these criminals who are killing people,” he added.

Uganda and the Congolese troops in November 2021 launched a military operation dubbed “Operation Shujaa” to wipe out the ADF, after they launched twin bombings in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, leaving six people dead and 33 others injured.

Museveni said despite the cost of the war, Uganda will continue to pursue the rebels as long as the Congolese government allows the Uganda military to operate in eastern DRC.

The president gave an account of the operation, noting that the rebel group, also a branch of the Islamic State in Central Africa, has been decimated, urging the remaining elements to surrender or face death.

“Now, I’m calling on the ADF to stop wasting time because there’s no way they can survive. They don’t know much about warfare; they don’t know the capacity of the army. They have seen this, even yesterday we attacked them, and they will all perish,” Museveni said.

“Now recently, the ADF in their stupidity think that if they send some small groups into Uganda to kill people, then the UPDF in Congo will come back to Uganda, but that will not happen,” he added.

In October 2023, Uganda announced an amnesty offer for individuals who were recruited into the ranks of the ADF and wished to surrender and cease fighting. Uganda’s Amnesty Commission on Tuesday said the government had pardoned and granted amnesty to 75 former ADF fighters.

 

Autor: teleSUR/ OSG

Fuente: DW

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