North Kivu: a dozen fighters captured

More than ten rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have been captured by the coalition of Congolese and Ugandan armies in the territory of Beni in the province of North Kivu, in the east of the DRC. The news was reported by the spokesperson for the coalition. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Lieutenant-Colonel Mak Hazukay informs that the operation was possible thanks to bombardments carried out by the military on the strongholds of ADF rebels.

“The bombardment of positions of ADF terrorists by the aviation and artillery of forces of the FARDC-UPDF coalition which forced them to release a few hostages and capture a dozen of them, continues in the Ruwenzori mountain and in the Mughalika valley. The coordination of joint operations calls on the local population and users of the Kasindi-Butembo via Karuruma section to be careful”, he said.

In addition, the FARDC (Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo) announce that they have released about forty civilians who were taken hostage by the ADF rebels in the Mwalika valley, in Beni territory.

This release took place, according to the army, during the bombardments of the past few days.

The spokesperson for Sokola 1 Grand Nord operations, who provided this information to the press on Tuesday, said that these ex-hostages, including women and children, had been kidnapped during ADF incursions into various towns in Beni. These include Maboya, Kabasha, Bashu and Bulongo.

“Among them, there are children who have been sexually abused. There are women who gave birth because they spent more than three years with these terrorists. We have, for example, a child of a Ugandan father and mother. He was born in the bush and he never saw his country. For those of Maboya, they had already been in the hands of the assailants for two months. They were all sick but they had just benefit from medical care”, said Captain Antony Mualushayi.