Ugandan Army Deploys to Town in Northeast DR Congo
"Our troops have entered Mahagi town and we are in control," Uganda's defense and military affairs spokesman Felix Kulayigye told AFP Sunday.
The deployment was requested by the Congolese army following alleged massacres of civilians carried out by a militia known as the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), he said, without providing further details.
Mahagi is in Ituri province, which borders Uganda, where at least 51 people were killed on February 10 by armed men affiliated with Codeco, according to humanitarian and local sources.
Codeco claims it defends the interests of the Lendu community, mainly composed of farmers, against the Hema community, mainly herders.
Uganda already has thousands of troops in other parts of Ituri under an agreement with the Congolese government.
Last month, Uganda announced its troops had "taken control" of the provincial capital, Bunia.
Ituri is just north of the provinces of North and South Kivu, which at the end of January fell under the control of the anti-government M23 armed group, which is backed by neighboring Rwanda.
Analysts fear that Uganda and Rwanda's growing presence in eastern DRC could lead to a repeat of the so-called Second Congo War, which lasted from 1998 to 2003, involving many African countries and resulting in millions of deaths from violence, disease and famine.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asharq Al-Awsat
3 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Hiker Found Dead after Bear Attack in Japan Forest
A hiker attacked by a wild brown bear was found dead in northern Japan on Friday, officials said, a day after the bloody encounter that reportedly saw him dragged into a forest. The hiker in his 20s tried to fight off the large animal but was pulled into the nearby woods with his legs bleeding profusely, local media outlets including the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. The man was attacked while walking a trail on Mount Rausu on the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday morning, a local police spokesman told AFP. On Friday afternoon, he was found and taken to a hospital where he was officially pronounced dead, according to a Hokkaido government official. Hunters also caught and killed a bear near the trail, an official working for Shari town -- where the mountain is -- told AFP. DNA analysis will be conducted to determine whether the bear was responsible for the victim's death. A wallet containing a card that bore the man's name was found near the scene of the encounter in the northeastern part of Hokkaido, according to media. A torn, bloodied shirt believed to be his was also found Friday, with nearby trees and soil dotted with traces of blood, Kyodo news agency said, quoting police. Among other discovered items were a watch, a hat and what appeared to be tear gas, Kyodo said. The number of brown bears in Hokkaido fell year-on-year in 2023 for the first time since 1991, according to estimates released this month. There were about 11,600 at the end of 2023, down 500 from a year earlier. The Hokkaido government cited unprecedented hunting of brown bears, with a record 1,804 caught in the 12 months to March 2024.
Arab News
16 hours ago
- Arab News
Two wounded in shooting near mosque in Sweden
STOCKHOLM: Two people were wounded Friday in a shooting near a mosque in the Swedish town of Orebro, police said, with local media reporting one person was shot as he left the mosque. Police provided no details about the circumstances of the shooting, but urged the public to stay away from the scene as they searched for the shooter. 'We are currently actively pursuing the perpetrator or perpetrators,' police spokesman Anders Dahlman told AFP. 'We are interviewing witnesses and carrying out our technical investigation,' he said. A police statement online said they had opened a preliminary investigation into attempted murder. The town of Orebro was home to a school shooting in February in which 11 people were killed, including the perpetrator.
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
South Korea President Vows to Build 'Military Trust' with North
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung vowed Friday to "respect" North Korea's political system and build "military trust", a day after Pyongyang said it had no interest in improving relations with Seoul. Lee has pledged to reach out to the nuclear-armed North and pursue dialogue without preconditions since his election in June -- a reversal from his hawkish predecessor, AFP said. Speaking at an event marking the anniversary of liberation from Japanese rule, Lee said the South Korean government "will take consistent measures to substantially reduce tensions and restore trust" with the North. "We affirm our respect for the North's current system," said Lee, adding Seoul had "no intention of engaging in hostile acts". "I hope that North Korea will reciprocate our efforts to restore trust and revive dialogue," he said. "North and South are not enemies." Lee's speech comes a day after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, said the North has "no will to improve relations" with the South. She also denied reports that North Korea was removing propaganda loudspeakers. Liberation holiday The South's military said in June that the two countries had halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, adding last week that it had detected North Korean troops dismantling loudspeakers on the frontier. Friday's August 15 anniversary of liberation from Japan is the only public holiday celebrated in both North and South Korea, according to Seoul's National Institute for Unification Education. In Pyongyang, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un also made a speech at a liberation day celebration, urging the nation to overcome "the challenges facing the DPRK for the great powerful country", using the North's official acronym. However, in an unusual move for a Liberation Day address, he made no mention of South Korea or its "enemies." The speech was before a Russian delegation to Pyongyang, including the speaker of the Duma, who read a congratulatory letter sent to Kim by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Kim's speech was a "stark contrast" to his sister's recent "fiery statements," Yang Moo-jin, president of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told AFP. "There were no messages aimed at South Korea or the United States, no references to enemies or hostile states, and no provocative mentions of nuclear forces," said Yang. "The intention would be to closely observe the moves of neighboring countries in the near term, including President Lee Jae Myung's Liberation Day address," he added.
