UPDF re-occupies Rwenzoris

Nov 09, 2003

THE army says it has re-occupied the Rwenzori Mountains to stem any rebel attack from the DRC.

By John Thawite
in Kasese

THE army says it has re-occupied the Rwenzori Mountains to stem any rebel attack from the DRC.

Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza yesterday said, “We are taking precautionary measures against pockets of ADF and PRA rebels who are reportedly trying to regroup in eastern DRC.”

He warned that if the rebels dared any attack, they would meet the wrath of the UPDF, the Kinshasa government and the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC, (MONUC).
He said there were small pockets of PRA in North Kivu and ADF rebel remnants on the western shore region of Lake Albert and in Ituri in DRC.

He said the UN had recently hit the Ituri- based rebels when they tried to move towards Kasenyi, west of the lake on the Congo side.

“But there is no cause for alarm,” Bantariza assured the residents in the Rwenzori region.
The UPDF arrived in Kasese at the weekend, chanting and singing morale-boosting slogans and songs aboard army trucks.

Residents greeted them, saying they were ready to help the soldiers as they did in 1996-2001 if the rebels attacked.

The Rwenzori Mountains Alpine Brigade commander, Lt. Col. Dula Mawa Muhindo, said, “I am in the field,” declining to comment further.

The army was reported to be securing the bases it used in the 1996-2001 fight against the ADF who attacked the country from the DRC on November 13, 1996.

The deployments come a few weeks after the Ugandan defence minister, Amama Mbabazi and the DRC regional cooperation minister, Mbusa Nyamwisi, confirmed that rebels had set up training bases in eastern DRC.
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