Colonel Jean Baptiste Munyapandi, the administrator of Mambasa territory says that the situation is due to the fact that a large part of this territory is under the command of military operations in North Kivu.
Three people were killed
and four police officers taken hostage in an attack by suspected Allied
Democratic Force (ADF) rebels on Bela village, Mambasa territory, Ituri province Eastern Democratic of Congo (DRC) in the wee hours of Monday morning.
According to locals, the rebels emerged from the
bush and ambushed
public transport vehicles that had left Makumu town heading to Beni in North Kivu province. Christophe Kengele Mayao, a civil society activist in Bela village, says that rebels subsequently attacked the government army FARDC position in
the area and an exchange of fire ensued.
In the process, Mayao says the rebels torched two vehicles. Mayao says that the attack forced several residents
to flee to neighboring
entities to save their lives. He criticizes the low number of government soldiers deployed in the area, saying that it could be the cause of such ambushes.
Colonel Jean Baptiste Munyapandi, the
administrator of Mambasa
territory says that the situation is due to the fact that a large part of this territory is under the command of
military operations in North Kivu. He however
says that the matter is being discussed with the Minister of Defense, Gilbert Kabanda who is camping in Bunia on a mission to neutralize ADF rebels in
the eastern part
of the country.
Late last month, Uganda and the DRC armies launched joint military operations against the ADF, with
Ugandan forces mounting air and artillery
raids against the group’s bases and sending thousands of troops across the border.
On Thursday last week, 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 and
Veteran Affairs Minister,
Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, and the Congolese Defense 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. Despite the efforts to neutralize them, the
rebels have continued to carry
out new surprise attacks in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
The rebels attacked Mangina-Mantumbi axis in the territory of
Beni on Wednesday last week and killed 16 people. They also looted pharmacies and business houses.
