A Ugandan soldier fired "
inadvertently
" and killed two soldiers, Congolese and Ugandan, on Tuesday July 5, in Beni, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo where they are in operation to neutralize the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group, we learned from a military source.
"
A 2nd class soldier of the UPDF (Uganda Peoples' Defense Forces) inadvertently fired this (Tuesday) morning in Bulongo/Rwenzori at two of his comrades, including a FARDC (Armed Forces of the DRC) soldier
," said announced Lieutenant-Colonel Mak Hazukay, spokesperson for the joint operations of the Congolese and Ugandan armies.
"
The perpetrator of the murder is under arrest
," said the officer without giving further details.
The locality of Bulongo is located on the strategic Beni-Kasindi road axis, in the Rwenzori sector, which leads to the border between the DRC and Uganda.
Massacres of regular civilians
At the end of November, Ugandan troops entered the DRC, first in North Kivu then, at the end of January, in Ituri, to fight the ADF.
Presented by the Islamic State organization (IS) as its branch in Central Africa (Iscap, in English), the ADF group is accused of being responsible for the massacres of thousands of civilians in the DRC and of having committed jihadist attacks in Uganda. .
But despite the joint military operations between the Congolese and Ugandan armies, attacks and massacres of civilians are regularly reported in this area where there are dozens of armed groups.
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A Ugandan firm is working on the rehabilitation of the Beni-Kasindi road axis, in accordance with an agreement signed between the two states.
“
The UPDF soldiers only secure the places where the machines are stored, 5 kilometers from Kasindi
,” Ricardo Rupande, president of the network of civil society organizations in the Rwenzori sector, told AFP.
“
For four months we have not heard the detonations of the bombs dropped by the Ugandan air force.
The bombardments at the start of the joint operations have ceased
”, regretted Patrick Musubao, president of the civil society of the city of Maimoya (Beni).