Uganda said to deploy 1,000 more soldiers in DRC near M23 conflict
Troops officially in the country to help fight another insurgency, though Uganda has sided with M23 before
04 February 2025 - 20:10
byDavid Lewis and Sonia Rolley
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Soldiers from Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) stand guard in Beni, North Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo, February 4 2025. Picture: REUTERS/GRADE; ,UYISA MUMBERE
Nairobi — Uganda has deployed more than 1,000 additional soldiers in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo in the past week near an area where the Kinshasa government is fighting M23 rebels, four diplomatic and UN sources said, heightening fears of a regional escalation.
Residents said the troops were moving towards the conflict zone.
The Rwanda-backed M23 recently captured regional capital Goma in an anarchic and mineral-rich part of the DRC where wars in 1996-1997 and 1998-2003 drew in outside nations and resulted in the deaths of millions of people, mostly from hunger and disease.
The additional Ugandan deployment north of Goma would raise its numbers there — officially to back DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s army against another rebel force — to between 4,000 and 5,000 troops, according to UN sources.
Uganda has been helping the DRC fight the Islamist Allied Defence Forces (ADF) since 2021, and the new deployment of between 1,000 and 2,000 troops was under that auspice in a push called Operation Shujaa, the sources said.
In a region of complex and often-shifting alliances, UN experts say Uganda has also backed the ethnic Tutsi-led M23, which is the latest in a string of Rwanda-backed rebellions to take up arms in the name of tghe DRC’s Tutsis.
Residents in the town of Butembo said they had seen columns of Ugandan soldiers heading south towards the front line with the M23 since the weekend.
Ugandan army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye denied a major new deployment, saying its forces had changed their “posture to offensive defence”, without giving further details.
DRC communications minister Patrick Muyaya did not respond when asked if more troops had arrived, but stressed the priority of Ugandan soldiers in the area was to fight the ADF, though combat against M23 and Rwandan soldiers was also possible.
“There’s still a lot of suspicion about Uganda, a lot of suspicion about what’s generally happening with the M23,” he said.
Uganda’s ‘surge’
Corneille Nangaa, head of the Alliance Fleuve Congo, an umbrella organisation that includes the M23 fighters, said Uganda provided no support but neither did he expect hostility.
Uganda denies UN reports that it has helped train some M23 fighters and given the group a rear base to move men and arms.
Having seized much of North Kivu province, M23 rebels have been consolidating their hold on Goma and moving on Bukavu, a town about 200km to the south. After meeting resistance from Congolese and Burundian forces, they have said they do not plan to take the city.
Uganda and Rwanda have both entered eastern DRC in the past in the name of protecting their borders but faced accusations of looting natural resources, especially gold.
Zobel Behalal of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime think-tank, said eastern DRC is as important for Uganda’s economy as it is for Rwanda’s, and the country would do what it needed to protect its interests.
“The surge is preparation for this,” he said, referring to Uganda’s efforts to ensure that it managed any spreading conflict so that it continued to benefit from wealth and trade over their shared border.
Uganda has been helping Tshisekedi’s army hunt down the Islamic State-allied ADF which originated in Uganda but has been based in the DRC since the late 1990s. Ground and air attacks have disrupted ADF operations and forced them to flee strongholds.
Adding to concerns over Uganda’s potentially ambiguous position, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the influential son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and head of the military, has been publicly supportive of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and his government.
In 2022, he referred to M23 as “brothers of ours” fighting for the rights of Tutsis in the DRC.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Uganda said to deploy 1,000 more soldiers in DRC near M23 conflict
Troops officially in the country to help fight another insurgency, though Uganda has sided with M23 before
Nairobi — Uganda has deployed more than 1,000 additional soldiers in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo in the past week near an area where the Kinshasa government is fighting M23 rebels, four diplomatic and UN sources said, heightening fears of a regional escalation.
Residents said the troops were moving towards the conflict zone.
The Rwanda-backed M23 recently captured regional capital Goma in an anarchic and mineral-rich part of the DRC where wars in 1996-1997 and 1998-2003 drew in outside nations and resulted in the deaths of millions of people, mostly from hunger and disease.
The additional Ugandan deployment north of Goma would raise its numbers there — officially to back DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s army against another rebel force — to between 4,000 and 5,000 troops, according to UN sources.
SA walks diplomatic tightrope before summit over DRC conflict
Rwanda also has troops operating in eastern DRC.
Uganda has been helping the DRC fight the Islamist Allied Defence Forces (ADF) since 2021, and the new deployment of between 1,000 and 2,000 troops was under that auspice in a push called Operation Shujaa, the sources said.
In a region of complex and often-shifting alliances, UN experts say Uganda has also backed the ethnic Tutsi-led M23, which is the latest in a string of Rwanda-backed rebellions to take up arms in the name of tghe DRC’s Tutsis.
Residents in the town of Butembo said they had seen columns of Ugandan soldiers heading south towards the front line with the M23 since the weekend.
Ugandan army spokesperson Felix Kulayigye denied a major new deployment, saying its forces had changed their “posture to offensive defence”, without giving further details.
DRC communications minister Patrick Muyaya did not respond when asked if more troops had arrived, but stressed the priority of Ugandan soldiers in the area was to fight the ADF, though combat against M23 and Rwandan soldiers was also possible.
“There’s still a lot of suspicion about Uganda, a lot of suspicion about what’s generally happening with the M23,” he said.
Uganda’s ‘surge’
Corneille Nangaa, head of the Alliance Fleuve Congo, an umbrella organisation that includes the M23 fighters, said Uganda provided no support but neither did he expect hostility.
Uganda denies UN reports that it has helped train some M23 fighters and given the group a rear base to move men and arms.
Having seized much of North Kivu province, M23 rebels have been consolidating their hold on Goma and moving on Bukavu, a town about 200km to the south. After meeting resistance from Congolese and Burundian forces, they have said they do not plan to take the city.
Sadc DRC mission will wind down when there is a ceasefire, says Ramaphosa
Uganda and Rwanda have both entered eastern DRC in the past in the name of protecting their borders but faced accusations of looting natural resources, especially gold.
Zobel Behalal of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime think-tank, said eastern DRC is as important for Uganda’s economy as it is for Rwanda’s, and the country would do what it needed to protect its interests.
“The surge is preparation for this,” he said, referring to Uganda’s efforts to ensure that it managed any spreading conflict so that it continued to benefit from wealth and trade over their shared border.
Uganda has been helping Tshisekedi’s army hunt down the Islamic State-allied ADF which originated in Uganda but has been based in the DRC since the late 1990s. Ground and air attacks have disrupted ADF operations and forced them to flee strongholds.
Adding to concerns over Uganda’s potentially ambiguous position, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the influential son of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and head of the military, has been publicly supportive of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and his government.
In 2022, he referred to M23 as “brothers of ours” fighting for the rights of Tutsis in the DRC.
Reuters
Rush to bury the dead after rebel offensive in Goma
G7 ministers condemn Rwandan-backed offensive in east DRC
Losses in DRC expose limit of SA’s diplomatic ambitions
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
SA walks diplomatic tightrope before summit over DRC conflict
Sadc DRC mission will wind down when there is a ceasefire, says Ramaphosa
POLITICAL WEEK AHEAD: Ramaphosa set for first Sona as head of the GNU
NEWS ANALYSIS: ‘Revolving door of military interventions’ no match for M23 ...
Pressure mounts on Sadc leaders over DRC peacekeeping mission
Paul Kagame accuses Cyril Ramaphosa of lying
‘They didn’t die in DRC to protect someone’s minerals,’ says Fikile Mbalula on ...
Rwanda slams criticism of east Congo offensive as rebels push south
SA’s food-processing sector poised for growth despite global ranking
Ramaphosa blames M23 and Rwanda soldiers for surge in DRC fighting
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.