The Commander of UPDF Land Forces Lt Gen Kainerugaba Muhoozi has visited the detach in Zombo district that was last Friday attacked by rebels from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Land Forces commander commended the soldiers for successfully repulsing the rebels, urging them to continue defending their nation.
Gen Kainerugaba said he had visited to personally appreciate the soldiers, listen to their issues, and generally understand the environment in which his soldiers operate.
Emphasizing the soldiers’ mandate, Gen Kainerugaba said: “We are the fire of our country and therefore, whoever touches our country should get burnt.”
He was speaking after touring the encampment and part of the Uganda-DRC border in Zombo.
The UPDF chief was furnished with first-hand details of attack.
This past Friday UPDF troops fended off Lendu militias of Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO) that targeted their base in Zombo.
According to the UPDF spokesperson Brig Flavia Byekwaso, the Force’s unit at Zeu in Zombo repelled 20 men disguising as forest workers.
They captured two, put four out of action and recovered one gun and bows/arrows, but sadly lost a soldier.
CODECO is an armed group that has been carrying out attacks in the DRC province of Ituri.
The militia is drawn from the Lendu ethnic group, a predominantly farming community that has historically clashed with the Hema, a group of traders and herders.
Since March 2020, CODECO members are said to have killed over 300 people in Ituri province.
