A total of seven fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces have been rescued by the joint forces of UPDF soldiers and the Congolese Army (FARDC) in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A report by the UPDF revealed that two other ADF rebels have surrendered to the UPDF 3rd battalion headquarters at Kasindi, North Kivu, during the recent engagements in the ongoing Operation Shujaa on August 6th.

Major Bilal Katamba, the Operation Shujaa UPDF spokesperson, said arrangements are underway to process them before they can be reunited with their families.

Katamba noted that two other ADF terrorists were also killed by the joint forces under the Makindye battalion on August 6, 2023.

“This happened after the joint forces got in contact with the ADF in Mwalika valley, and two submachine guns, 15 rounds of ammunition, and a walkie-talkie were recovered in the same operation,” said Maj. Katamba.

He added that all the abductees are currently at the joint forces sector headquarters awaiting evacuation and the subsequent rehabilitation process.

Katamba advised all ADF rebels who would wish to surrender to the joint forces to use the earliest opportunity and report to any joint forces operating within their vicinity.

The Ugandan military recently captured 14 women held by Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in a joint operation with the DRC army.

The rescue operation was conducted last night by the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the Armed Forces of the DRC against an ADF splinter group led by Abu Wagas Kasi at the confluence of the River Talha and Semullik in North Kivu province.

“Among those rescued from the group is a Burundi national who served as Abu Waqas’ wife and has been in the ADF ranks for five years,” the UPDF statement said, sharing pictures of the freed women.

The Ugandan military and their Congolese counterparts launched joint operations against the rebel group in November 2021, shortly after the ADF launched bomb attacks in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.

President Yoweri Museveni in July 2023, during a televised address, announced Uganda’s commitment to wipe ADF rebels from the DRC.

For years, the ADF, formed in 1995 in Uganda to counter Museveni’s administration, has been carrying out killings of both civilians and security personnel from its base in the jungles of the mineral-rich neighboring DRC. In 2019, it pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS).