Ugandan army destroys camp used by ADF militia to assemble bombs

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - The Ugandan army said Thursday it has destroyed a camp where members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia were assembling bombs.

The camp was also being used to recruit young children for terrorist activities, army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said while addressing the press.

“We have destroyed an ADF camp based in Kikubajinja village in Luwero district where bombs have been assembled…Part of it was underground in a 14-meter tunnel,” he said.

Kulayigye said the camp was at the home of a suspected rebel named Kabonge Umar Achobe.

Kulayigye told Anadolu Agency that people who live near the camp were the ones who alerted police about it, leading to security organs mounting an operation in which several rebels were arrested, including Achobe.

“We thank the people in the village who reported to us about the presence of rebels in their area,” he added.

The ADF militia, which originated in Uganda in the 1990s, has been fighting against the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni. But in early 2000, they were overpowered and fled to forests in the Democratic Republic of Congo, from where they attack villages, killing innocent people.

A few months ago, a number of them snuck back into Uganda and began carrying out bombings in which some people were killed.​​​​​​​

Recently, the army in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ugandan Armed Forces jointly mounted operations to oust the militia from the jungles in eastern DR Congo which are still going on.