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Uganda finally deploys troops to regional force in eastern DRC
https://nilepost.co.ug/2023/03/29/uganda-finally-deploys-troops-to-regional-force-in-eastern-drc/
Uganda has finally deployed troops under the regional East African Community standby force.
Kenneth Kazibwe
Uganda has finally deployed troops under theregional East African Community standby force .
The 1000 Ugandan troops were on Wednesday afternoon flagged off by the UPDF commander for Land Forces, Lt Gen Kayanja Muhanga at a function held in Bunagana, at the border with DRC.
Speaking during the flagging off ceremony, Lt Gen Muhanga described the occasion as another chapter in the peacekeeping operations that UPDF has got involved in.
“We were at one time in Liberia, we are in Somalia, we have been to South Sudan, Central African Republic and to DR many times.
This force has mission to witness the process of achieving peace in eastern DRC. We have not come to attack like the other side (under operation Shuja). Our work is not to start attacking belligerents there but witness and ensure implementation of the decisions taken by the heads of state. We are not going as enemies of anybody there.”
He emphasized that Ugandan troops will not attack anyone but rather to enforce the decisions of the East African heads of state.
The Ugandan contingent that will among others be charged with open blocked routes and protecting civilians against attacks by M23 rebels will be commanded by Col Mike Hairoba
Speaking during the flag off, Col Hairoba said the Ugandan troops in DRC will be ambassadors of peace.
“I want to assure that we have trained and ready for the task the region has assigned to us. With us as UPDF and now as part of EACRF, we have a strategic relationship with the civilians wherever we find them. The relationship is like fish and water that without the support of the locals we can’t operate effectively. I ask local population to support us to deliver to you the most required item of life- safety,” Col Hairoba said.
“We pray to everyone to give us full support to be able to deliver on this task.”
He warned the soldiers, that the issue of discipline will not be negotiable
“We have had the pre-mission training and the rules of engagement are very clear to us all. Let us adhere to them.”
The mission
The Ugandan troops will be in charge of sector three based North of Bunia in Ituri province
They join other troops from Burundi and Kenya that are deployed in sectors one in South Kivu and two which oversees North Kivu respectively.
The regional force deployed in DRC will try to calm the deadly tensions fueled by armed groups, especially the M23 rebels.
The rebel group currently occupies several areas of North Kivu.
Having risen to prominence a decade ago where it captured Goma City, M23, a Tutsi- led group went into a lull before reemerging last year.
The group claimed the DRC government had failed to honour a pledge of integrating its fighters into the army prompting the reemergence.
M23 has been blamed for several human rights abuses, including sexual violence.
For example, the rebels were accused of having masterminded the massacre of over 100 civilians at Kishishe, a village 70 kilometres (40 miles) north of Goma city.
During the incident, over 20 women and girls were raped in Rutshuru region.
The European Union has since sanctioned some of the rebel group commanders including the spokesperson, Maj Willy Ngoma.
Following the break out of fights between the M23 and Congolese government forces, the East African Community leaders agreed to deploy a joint regional force to quell the violence.
Uganda to deploy 1,000 troops to DR Congo to fight M23 rebels
What you need to know:
- The volatile region has witnessed fierce fighting in recent months between Congolese troops and the M23 rebel group, prompting the East African Community (EAC) bloc to deploy a joint regional force to quell the violence.
Uganda will deploy around 1,000 soldiers in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo by the end of November under a regional force against a
rebel offensive, a Ugandan military spokesman said Tuesday.
The
volatile region has witnessed fierce fighting in recent months between
Congolese troops and the M23 rebel group, prompting the East African
Community (EAC) bloc to deploy a joint regional force to quell the
violence.
Kenyan soldiers arrived in the country on November 12 and Uganda's
military and defence spokesman, Felix Kulayigye, told AFP that a Ugandan
contingent would follow shortly.
"We are doing final mentoring of
our troops before inserting them into Eastern DRC before (the) end of
this month to join our colleagues from Kenya who are already on the
ground," Kulayigye said.
"We are sending about 1,000 (soldiers) on the mission," he said, without giving the exact date of departure.
The
fighting has reignited regional tensions, with the DRC accusing its
smaller neighbour Rwanda of backing the M23, something that UN experts
and US officials have also said in recent months.
Kigali denies
supporting the M23 and accuses Kinshasa of colluding with the FDLR -- a
former Rwandan Hutu rebel group established in the DRC after the 1994
genocide of mainly Tutsis in Rwanda.
The M23, a largely Congolese Tutsi militia, has seized swathes of
territory across North Kivu province, edging towards the region's main
city of Goma.
Two Ugandan military sources familiar with the matter
told AFP on condition of anonymity that Kampala had already sent
intelligence, medical and logistical teams into Goma to prepare the
ground for the planned deployment.
The M23 first leapt to prominence 10 years ago when it captured Goma in 2012, before being driven out and going to ground.
But
it re-emerged late last year, claiming the DRC had failed to honour a
pledge to integrate its fighters into the army, among other grievances.
The
EAC regional force is expected to include soldiers from Kenya, Burundi,
Uganda and South Sudan. But its intended total size remains unclear.
The
M23 is one of around 120 armed groups active in eastern Congo, many of
them a legacy of two regional wars that flared late last century.
Uganda to send 1,000 troops to regional force against M23 in DRC
Uganda will be the third country to deploy troops after contingents from Kenya and Burundi have arrived in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
ganda’s army said on Monday that it will send 1,000 troops to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the end of this month to join a regional force mandated to help end decades of instability.
The seven countries of the East African Community (EAC), which DRC joined this year, agreed in April to set up a force to fight militia groups in its east.
Uganda will be the third country to deploy troops after contingents from Kenya and Burundi have arrived in the area, Uganda’s army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said. But their involvement has been opposed by some activist groups and officials because of Uganda’s role in the conflict in DRC.
In September, Uganda paid Congo $65m, the first installment of reparations amounting to $325m for losses caused by Ugandan troops occupying Congolese territory in the 1990s.
Eastern DRC already hosts hundreds of Ugandan troops, deployed nearly a year ago under a separate bilateral arrangement to help hunt down the ISIL-allied group Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Despite billions of dollars spent on one of the United Nations’ largest peacekeeping forces, more than 120 armed groups continue to operate across large swathes of eastern Congo, including M23 rebels, which Congo has repeatedly accused Rwanda of supporting. Kigali denies the claims.
The UN says it found evidence contrary to Kigali’s claims.
The M23 have staged a major offensive this year, seizing territory, forcing thousands of people from their homes, and sparking a diplomatic row between Congo and Rwanda.
On Friday, the EAC said Kenya’s former President Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame had agreed on the need for M23 rebels to cease fire and withdraw from captured territory.