President Museveni has asked ADF fighters still in the DRC to surrender to government or else they will continue facing fire from the UPDF.
“ADF has no chances of surviving. We are hitting them in sectors one, two , three and now four. These machines (UPDF aircraft) can hit them everywhere. I call on ADF to stop and come out. You are wasting time or else you will perish. I call upon Ugandans that if you know anyone linked with ADF advise them to stop wasting their time,” Museveni said.
The president was on Tuesday addressing the nation on the security situation in the country at his country home in Rwakitura.
Museveni said ADF fighters should know they will never succeed in their plans, noting that the only thing they are doing is wasting government resources and time.
“They are wasting our time and money. The machines(aircraft) are very expensive and consume a lot of fuel. The bombs we are using to hunt the criminals cost a lot of money we should be using for country’s development. However, we cant ignore these criminals who kill people and therefore we spend money to them. I am calling on the ADF to come out and stop wasting our time. If they don’t, they will all perish.”
Museveni also spoke about the recent attacks in some districts near the border with DRC by ADF where a number of people have been killed.
He said the ADF thought by coming in small groups and entering the country to carry out attacks would change UPDF’s focus from DRC.
He however said this was only foolhardy as UPDF will continue pounding them inside DRC until the group is wiped out.
“I am calling on ADF to stop wasting time because there is no way they can survive. The moment Congo government allowed to operate there, there is no way they can survive. They don’t know the capacity of our army . They thought sending small groups into Uganda to kill people UPDF in DRC will stop but this wont happen.”
“Unfortunately they(ADF) cant allow people to listen to radios in camps but would have called upon them to come out. Now, the only radio to give them are those bombs.”
The UPDF entered DR in December 2021 following an agreement with President Felix Tshisekedi’s government for a joint operation with the Congolese army.
The joint operations have seen several ADF camped destroyed, commanders and fighters killed whereas others have either been captured alive or surrendered.
Several abductees have also been rescued.
Designated as a terrorist group by the US government, ADF has used the name Madina at Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen (City of Monotheism and Holy Warriors—MTM) to refer to emphasize its links to the Islamic State.
In 2019, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an ADF attack and first referenced a “Central Africa Province.”
The Islamic State group has in the past claimed that ADF is its Central African offshoot.
The Bridgeway Foundation recently said that ADF has since been specifically named as Islamic State in DRC to move away from being referred to as the Central Africa Province of ISIS/ ISIL.
“When ISIS recognized ADF, it became the Islamic State in DRC and Isis fighters from across the region started joining ADF. More fighters moved from Somalia, Tanzania, South Africa and many other places. Because ADF got more manpower, they became more deadlier.”
