DRC Army |
North Kivu, DRC
Islamist rebels killed 30
soldiers and wounded another 70, some seriously, during fierce fighting last
week in eastern DR Congo, army officials said.
They
suffered the losses during the latest offensive Thursday against the Allied
Democratic Forces (ADF), in North Kivu province, Major Mak Hazukai told
journalists Saturday.
The army
captured the ADF's headquarters during the battle at Madina, and killed 40
rebel fighters, including five of their leaders, Hazukai added.
On
Friday, the cabinet posted a tweet on the prime minister's account
congratulating the army on their capture of what they described as the one of
the last bastions of the ADF.
North Kivu
sits on the border with Uganda. The ADF, rebels originally from Uganda, has
been waging a campaign of violence in the east of the Democratic Republic of
Congo for years.
Hazukai
described them as "Islamist fundamentalists".
The army announced its campaign against the ADF on October 30. The rebels are accused of having killed more than a thousand people in the Beni region, in the northern part of North Kivu, since 2014.
The army announced its campaign against the ADF on October 30. The rebels are accused of having killed more than a thousand people in the Beni region, in the northern part of North Kivu, since 2014.
ADF
fighters killed at least 150 civilians over November and December in reprisal
according to official sources and local groups. That rising toll has sparked
anger over the authorities' response.
There
have been demonstrations in the city of Beni, where local people accuse the UN
peacekeeping force MONUSCO of failing to protect them. At the end of November,
local people looted a MONUSCO base there.
Since
then, the UN force and the army have announced joint patrols in the region.
The ADF began as an Islamist rebellion hostile to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
The ADF began as an Islamist rebellion hostile to Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
It fell
back into eastern DRC in 1995 and appears to have halted raids inside Uganda.
Its recruits today are people of various nationalities. - AFP
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