What Museveni said about ADF terror attacks

During a media engagement session, on December 22, where he also delivered a Christmas message, President Museveni assured the nation that the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) incursion into the Democratic Republic of Congo launched in 2021 to wipe out the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) was registering successes. 

He emphasised the importance of vigilance by the citizens until the ADF is decimated. 

“I want to thank H.E Felix Tshisekedi, some two years ago he allowed us to hunt ADF in [DR] Congo and we are doing it very well. Even the other day we attacked them, very badly in Congo. This morning [December 22] our aircraft were there attacking them…We are going to wipe out those groups and their leaders who are in Congo who send these young people to come and die here. 

‘‘In the meantime, even during this festive season, I would like the people to be on alert because you see the border is open; we don’t close borders. And I have discarded the idea of roadblocks because they are blind, so somebody from Congo can enter Uganda. 

‘‘Nobody can say we can stop you from entering from Congo because even if they don’t go through the border point, they will go through the bush and enter. What is crucial is the intelligence, which we normally have, but you can’t get the last minute, you may have, but the terrorist is slightly ahead of you. 

‘‘But especially the vigilance of the people, like this festive season when the people are in churches, the mosques, in markets, transport… because these are people who are not known in your area. 

‘‘They are trying to infiltrate from Congo, we try to identify them, and if we get their pictures we put them on social media. So, with vigilance, we have been able to stop many of them like the one who wanted to plant bombs near Kayanja’s church [ Miracle Centre Cathedral, Rubaga], near the pork eaters in Kikubamutwe. This is vigilance. 

‘‘These are easy to detect because these are people who are not known in your area. When you see someone you do not know, challenge them and call the police. 

‘‘They are not many because we are really on them inside Congo hitting them but until they are all eliminated, you cannot rule out that one or two can sneak in, like these 10 who sneaked in because of the laxity of our people near Mpondwe. 

‘‘They came through a place called Kayanja, near Lake Edward. The area is cultivated and there is only a small bush where they hid but our people were not alert. 

‘‘We have now killed five, arrested one, there are four remaining. It is these four who killed the people in Kamwenge. But we are hunting them and waking up the LDUs, because these are easy to deal with. If we had LDUs in that area they would have dealt with them. 

‘‘Therefore on the issue of terrorism, I want to report that we are really dealing with them on the other side. They try to divert us in their simple thinking. They won’t, but in the meantime, vigilance on the side of the Wanainchi,” he said. 

In a December 13 statement, President Museveni said UPDF killed more than 200 ADF rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group during air strikes conducted on September 16 in DR Congo.  Mr Museveni said the UPDF had been carrying out air attacks on the terrorists in Congo. 

“We normally identify those targets by both technical and human intelligence. Using those means, you can know that many terrorists were killed. However, you will not know who, until human sources bring in their reports,” he said in a tweet.

He further named at least 57 names of some of the terrorists who were killed by the UPDF during the operation.