Eleven More bodies Found in Mangina after ADF Attack

Eleven dead bodies have been discovered in Mangina-Mantumbi axis, in the territory of Beni, North Kivu province eastern Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC, a day after Allied Democratic Forces -ADF rebels attack in the area.  This i addition to the six people killed in the area on Wednesday.

According to Muongozi Kakule Vunyatsi, the area local civil society chairperson, the bodies were discovered on Thursday evening 30 kilometers west of the town of Beni.

Vunyatsi says that the bodies of the victims are among an unidentified number of people whom the rebels had taken hostage a day before. 

Rebels had on Wednesday evening attacked the area and killed six people. The attackers hit Dara cell in the Masimbembe neighborhood. Attackers also looted pharmacies and business houses. 

Vunyatsi has asked the government army to take into consideration the alerts of the population who, according to him, had informed the security forces of a security threat against the commune of Mangina, three days before the incursion.   

The government army is yet to confirm the incident.  

At least 1,700 Uganda Peoples Defense Forces -UPDF soldiers are already deployed in Eastern Democratic of Congo for a joint operation with the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (French: Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo([FARDC) soldiers against the ADF. 

The soldiers include special forces and infantry deployed with their artillery and armor. 

  On Thursday evening, Uganda and Congolese Defense Ministries signed a defense and security agreement aimed at conducting operations against armed groups specifically ADF rebels in Ituri and North Kivu provinces. 

The agreement was signed by the Ugandan Defense Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, and the Congolese Defence Minister Gilbert Kabanda.  

In their joint communiqué, the two countries reaffirmed and endorsed that the pooling of forces aims to track down all armed groups and negative forces, specifically the ADF, and create stability in Eastern DRC.

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