President Museveni explained the circumstances under which Uganda deployed troops to eastern DRC as part of the East African Regional Force. In a statement released on Thursday, the president—who also serves as commander‑in‑chief of the armed forces—said Uganda’s deployment of 1,000 troops is intended to maintain peace, not to engage in combat. “In that effort we are not going to battle or fight the M‑23,” he said. “The Congo government and the M‑23 have agreed to a peace plan that includes a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of M‑23 from certain captured areas, and other measures.”
Museveni noted that peace talks between the M‑23 rebels and the DRC government are ongoing and should continue so that the conflict can be resolved politically, allowing peace to return to eastern DRC. “Our initial mission, therefore, is to occupy some of the positions that the M‑23 has handed over to the East African Force as a neutral force, instead of the Congolese army, which the M‑23 sees as an enemy,” he explained. “We are going to the Bunagana‑Rutshuru area not to fight the M‑23 but to act as a neutral force while the Congolese sort out their political problems.”
According to the East African Regional Force plan, Ugandan troops will be deployed in Bunagana and Rutshuru in North Kivu—areas previously controlled by the M‑23. Museveni emphasized that Ugandan forces will not attack unless they are attacked. “Fighting may come later if a non‑state armed group does not accept peace on reasonable conditions. In that case, the East African authority (the Heads of State) would have to mandate us to fight if any stakeholder refuses to implement the agreed peace agreement.”
The president also commented on the joint UPDF deployment with the Congolese army under Operation Shuja, which he said is achieving several successes. He explained that the UPDF is operating in Beni, Virunga National Park, Semuliki, Mbooga, and parts of Ituri. “Together with our Congolese brothers and sisters, we have seriously degraded the ADF; most of the remnants are now fleeing toward the Mambasa‑Komanda area, far from the border.” He added that Congolese farmers are now able to harvest cocoa for the first time in many years, something that was impossible when the ADF rebels controlled the area. “There is peace where we have operated,” Museveni concluded.
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