Operation Shujaa: 31 abductees rescued as joint operations against ADF intensify
Major Bilal Katamba, the public information officer for Mountain Division/Operation Shujaa, said this comes in the wake of the joint Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) and FARDC attack on Allied Democratic Front (ADF) terrorists
Operation Shujaa: 31 abductees rescued as joint operations against ADF intensify
NewVision Reporter
@NewVision
A total of 30 abductees on Tuesday, August 22, 2023, handed themselves to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) base in Erengeti, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Major Bilal Katamba, the public information officer for Mountain Division/Operation Shujaa, said this comes in the wake of the joint Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) and FARDC attack on Allied Democratic Front (ADF) terrorists in Tingwe hills, where 19 other abductees had earlier been rescued.
He said the joint UPDF and FARDC operation against the ADF terrorists in Eastern DRC had intensified, leading to successive achievements to the joint forces.
Katamba said the joint forces on Tuesday, in the general areas of Maxabo in North Kivu, came in contact with the ADF terrorists and one rocket-propelled grenade launcher (RPG) was recovered, and one woman rescued.
One of the abductees who was rescued on Tuesday, August 22, 2023. (Courtesy photo)
“On Sunday, August 20, 2023, at around 4:30 pm in the South West of Kimberembere, the joint forces under UPDF's 11th battalion operating in the general areas of Maxabo got in contact with the ADF group and one terrorist was put out of action, one Pulemot Kalashnikova Modernizirovannyi (PKM) machine gun and two submachine guns were recovered,” Katamba noted.
He said the joint forces are still pursuing the group suspected to be under the command of one of the ADF senior commanders Muhammad Lumisa and a one Rafiki.
Some of the recovered guns and other equipment from the ADF camp. (Courtesy photo)
In November 2021, Uganda and the DRC signed a Memorandum of Understanding to conduct a joint military operation code-named “Operation Shujaa” against the ADF in Eastern DRC following escalated attacks by the rebels in both countries in 2021.
Since the operation started, the ADF have been pushed away from their strongholds in the jungles of DRC, several captured and killed.
Several abductees have been rescued and their weaponry captured.