Senior ADF commander killed in DR Congo raid: Ugandan army

By James Tasamba

KIGALI, Rwanda (AA) – A senior commander of Uganda’s Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels was killed in a military operation Wednesday in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Ugandan military.

Seka Wankaba was killed during a raid in Mwalika Valley, North Kivu province, Uganda's deputy military spokesperson Col. Deo Akiiki said in a statement.

Akiiki said Wankaba was a Ugandan national and “a highly trained improvised explosive device (IED) expert.”

“Our troops won't relent till the ADF command and control structure is fully decimated,” he warned.

On Tuesday, seven people were killed in an attack attributed to ADF rebels in southern Irumu territory, Ituri province.

The victims, including women and children, had reportedly gone to a forest in search of food.

The ADF was founded in the 1990s by several opposition movements in Uganda.

After being defeated by the Ugandan army, the group remained active in eastern Congo for decades, wreaking havoc, which led to joint Ugandan and Congolese military operations to flush them out in late 2021.

The rebel group pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2019. In 2021, the US placed the ADF on the list of “terrorist organizations” affiliated with Daesh/ISIS.

The security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has "deteriorated considerably" in recent months amid violence by multiple armed groups, the UN envoy to the country, Bintou Keita, told the UN Security Council on Wednesday.

Keita told the 15-member council that “this humanitarian crisis remains one of the most neglected in the world.”