KAMPALA: Ugandan troops have entered the eastern Congolese city of Bunia to help local forces stop deadly violence by armed groups, a military spokesman said Tuesday. A meeting on Monday between Ugandan forces and Congolese troops in Bunia, the capital of Ituri province, agreed on a joint deployment in the city, said major general Felix Kulayigye, spokesman for the Ugandan military.
Ugandan forces now control Bunia together with Congolese forces, he said, asserting that the action was provoked by crimes, including killings, along ethnic lines by armed groups.
He did not provide specific details, but Bunia and other nearby areas have been the scene of violent conflict between the Lendu farming community and the Hema pastoralists.
Ugandan forces have been deployed to Ituri since 2021 under an agreement with Congo’s government. The Ugandans are hunting down members of other rebel groups that include the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, which has ties with the Islamic State group.
Bunia is located about 40 kilometres from Congo’s border with Uganda.
Uganda’s escalation of its military presence in eastern Congo is bound to raise fears of a widening conflict in a large and often lawless part of the central African nation.
South of Bunia, Rwanda-backed M23 rebels now control Goma, capital of North Kivu province and the largest city in eastern Congo. The rebels over the weekend also seized Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, after rapid military advances in recent days. Congolese forces have put up little resistance.
Uganda and Rwanda have entered the conflict in Congo since 1996, sometimes competing for influence among rebel groups opposed to Congo’s government. Congo’s neighbours also have been accused of illegally exploiting the country’s vast mineral wealth, including gold.
