Uganda’s military mentioned it killed 242 fighters belonging to a Congolese insurgent group often called CODECO after they attacked a Ugandan military camp throughout the border in east Congo earlier this week, a declare disputed by the group.
Uganda military spokesperson Chris Magezi mentioned a whole lot of CODECO fighters attacked a Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) military submit in the Congo locality of Fataki, in the province of Ituri, on Wednesday (March 19, 2025) and Thursday (March 20, 2025).
The military retaliated on each events, killing 31 militants on the primary day and 211 on the second day, Mr. Magezi mentioned in a submit on X late on Friday. One UPDF soldier was killed and 4 others injured, he added.
CODECO spokesperson Basa Zukpa Gerson refuted the military’s account on Saturday (March 22, 2025), saying that the group solely misplaced two fighters and that the UPDF loss of life toll was larger.
A United Nations supply who didn’t want to be named mentioned 70 rebels and 12 Ugandan troops had been killed.
There had been additional clashes between the 2 sides on Saturday (March 22, 2025) morning, CODECO and an area civil society chief mentioned.
CODECO fighters say their goal is to defend Lendu farmers from Hema herders, which have traditionally clashed over land.
The group is certainly one of a myriad of militias preventing over land and mineral assets in east Congo, the place Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have stepped up an offensive this yr and made unprecedented beneficial properties.
The battle, rooted in the fallout from Rwanda’s 1994 genocide and competitors for mineral riches equivalent to tantalum and gold, is japanese Congo’s worst since a 1998-2003 struggle that drew in a number of neighbouring nations and left hundreds of thousands useless.
Uganda despatched troops to Congo in 2021 to assist the federal government struggle one other insurgent group, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), which is affiliated with the Islamic State and levels brutal assaults on villages.
UPDF troops had been deployed to northern Ituri a couple of weeks in the past to forestall the ADF from infiltrating the realm, and to cease a whole lot of Congo refugees from fleeing into Uganda, Mr. Magezi mentioned.
Published – March 22, 2025 05:21 pm IST
