Armed cross-border attack leaves 19 dead

Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels yesterday made an incursion from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into Ntoroko border town, forcing hundreds to flee.

Heavy gunfire cracked over Bweramule sub-county at dawn, catching alarmed Kayanja, Kyapa, Bweramule Trading Centre, Harugaju and Kyobe residents unawares.

The targeted area is belted by the borderline River Semliki.

Witnesses said Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldiers from Kanyasi and Rwebisengo engaged the attackers from around 7am after the latter shot and injured three villagers and killed one.

In an update on the operations last night, the UPDF Mountain Division and Operation Shujaa Commander, Maj Gen Dick Olum, revised the number of slain attackers and recovered weapons upwards.

He revealed that a UPDF soldier, whose name and rank he declined to disclose, was also killed.

Maj Gen Olum said they had killed 17 rebels, captured 13, and recovered 15 weapons of different makes while one civilian was killed and two injured.

“We are going to interrogate them (captured attackers) to find out the motive behind the attack,” he said, shortly before briefing the internally-displaced persons (IDPs) about efforts to restore normalcy.

Earlier, and citing situation report by early afternoon, Brig Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesperson, tweeted that they had killed 11 attackers he identified as ADF fighters and captured eight.

“Estimated 20-30 ADF fighters crossed River Semliki into Kyanja in Ntoroko District. Our intelligence got wind of them and they were intercepted,” he wrote, adding: “A fight is on to decisively deal with the group. Eleven of them have been put out of action.”

We could not independently verify the claims as the battlefront was off-limits to civilians.

A video clip taken by an unknown person surfaced on social media later yesterday, and people speaking in the background while filming corpses in a marshland could be heard identifying the deceased as slain ADF rebels.

The ADF is a Ugandan rebel group that terrorises mainly western part of the country, and hurled explosives in Kampala, in the 1990s.

Their most brutal attack was on June 8, 1998, where the rebels during the raid burnt to death 80 students of Kichwamba Technical College in Kabarole District and conscripted 100 others.

The Ugandan military in a counter-offensive dislodged the insurgents who fled to eastern DRC where they have hibernated for several years until November 30, 2021 when the government, accusing the group of blasting explosives in Kampala, sent UPDF to launch the year-old Operation Shujaa jointly with Congolese counterparts.

It in 2018 proclaimed itself an affiliate of the Islamic State and adopted the moniker Islamic State Central Africa Province (ISCAP).

The group has remained active under the reported command of Musa Seka Baluku following the April 2015 arrest in Tanzania of its co-founder Jamil Mukulu, now facing prosecution in Uganda on multiple charges.

It is against this background --- the rebels’ long stay away and an ongoing military offensive against them inside Congo --- that an attack on Ugandan soil linked to the group caught residents of Ntoroko border district by surprise.

“At around 7am, I was sleeping and heard people outside making noise and when I came outside, I saw people running from Kayanja heading to Rwebisengo,” said Mr Douglas Musinguzi, a resident of Bweramule Sub-county.

He added: “When I asked them … fleeing locals told me that Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels had captured people from Kayanja and they were asking them [for] the location of UPDF barracks. The ADF rebels, who wore military attire, were holding guns and speaking Kiswahili.”

Columns of fleeing village, among them women with children strapped to their backs and many carrying household materials on their heads, fled for safety to Karugutu Primary School, Rwebisengo Town Council, and Bweramule Sub-county headquarters.

“It’s true ADF rebels crossed from DR Congo and entered Ntoroko District through Kayanja, where the fighting is taking place,” said (Rtd) Maj Edward Jones Mugabirwe, the resident district commissioner, who chairs the district security committee.

Telecommunication network reception in the remote area was weak, rendering corroboration of information difficult. The military relied mainly on radio calling.

RDC Mugabirwe said he had been briefed that by 3pm, the number of ADF rebels killed in action had increased from 11 to 14 and 17 guns recovered, up from 10 in the morning.

By early afternoon, officials said they registered 201 households of displaced persons at Rwebisinego Town Council headquarters.

He said those who fled their homes said they would not return home since the fighting was still raging.

“The eight ADF rebels we have captured will share with us the details to know their motives as to why they attacked Ntoroko District. Our UPDF soldiers have been deployed heavily and the situation is under control,” he said.

The RDC added that the rebels while crossing to Ntoroko abducted some Congolese citizens inside their country in order to swell their numbers and use the civilians as human shield during the attack.

Mr Onan Bagonza, the Bweramule Sub-county chairman, said the suspected rebels raided the villages at around 5am and started shooting at civilians, injuring about three people by 7am.

“It is true that ADF rebels have attacked my sub-county and there was gunfire exchange between ADF and UPDF. Three people have been injured and one person is in critical conditions,” he said.

Mr Bagonza said Arclight Musana, shot during the attack, was referred to Fort Portal Regional Referral Hopsital following preliminary treatment at Rwebisengo Health Centre IV.

Ntoroko District leaders have erected makeshift shelters for fleeing residents at Karugutu Primary School, Rwebisengo Town Council and Bweramule Sub-county headquarters.

Kibuuku, Butugama and Rwebisengo residents also fled in fear as gun sounds echoed from farther afield.

Mr Sedrack Bwambale, a Karugutu Town Council agent, said the IDPs assembled at Karugutu, comprising mainly women and children, were in need of urgent help.

“We are not sure whether these people shall continue staying here, there is no food for them, we are waiting for our leaders to tell us [what is next],” he said.

Where the rebels struck

The attack happened in an area just more than three kilometres from River Semliki at the Uganda border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which has renamed itself as the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province as an affiliate of Islamic State, is among hundreds of rebel and militia groups active in the restive eastern DRC.

The group has been accused of slaughtering thousands of Congolese civilians and carrying out bomb attacks in neighbouring Uganda, as well as prompting UPDF and Congolese counterparts to launch the one-year-old military offensive code-named Operation Shujaa.

The residents say

“It is around 7am when I heard gunfire and a few minutes later I was told ADF rebels had attacked my village. When I heard the gunfire, I first delayed to move out of my house. However, a few minutes later I saw other people running. I told my young children to start running and go to Karugutu Town Council. I fled alongside my eight children. We left my husband behind. We are helpless; I have no food to feed the children [and no other necessities]. Rose Tibagwa, mother

“When I heard of gunfire, I thought the [sound was echoing from] DRC. Then the gun sound became intense. I first remained in bed. Later my mother came and told me to start running. She said the ADF rebels had attacked our area. I was helped by a boda boda who gave me a lift to reach Kibuuku Trading Centre where I found a Fuso truck ferrying other displaced people [for transfer] to Karugutu Primary School.,”   Ms Sharon Kaburungi

“At around 7am, I was sleeping and heard people outside making noise and when I came outside I saw people running from Kayanja heading to Rwebisengo.  Fleeing locals told me that (ADF) rebels had captured people from Kayanja and they were asking them [for] the location of UPDF barracks. The ADF rebels wore military attire, were holding guns and speaking Kiswahili. They reached my village (Kyobe) and started shooting at us. That is when we started running. I came running up to Rwebisengo and later jumped on a lorry which brought me to Karugutu. I left my other siblings at home,” Mr Douglas Musinguzi, a resident of Bweramule Sub-county.

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