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The Monitor (Kampala)
October 3, 2003
Posted to the web October 3, 2003
Frank Nyakairu
Kampala
The army says it will not redeploy in the DR Congo even after learning that remnants of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces are regrouping there.
Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza told The Monitor in interview yesterday that the rebel threat was "hyped" and that it would not warrant redeploying in the DR Congo.
"These are bandits who are armed and stay in particular areas and for that reason we can defend ourselves within Uganda," Bantariza said.
He said the group said to be regrouping is the one the UPDF defeated sometime last year.
"This is the same group we defeated earlier and if we have to stop them again it will take us just a day as we did last time," the army spokesman added.
He said that the army killed more than 40 remnants of the ADF earlier this year.
"When we left Congo we knew they were there and we know they are still there," he added.
Earlier this week, the army resumed deploying in the border district of Bundibugyo amid reports that ADF remnants were regrouping.
But the 2 Division Commander, Col. Potel Kivuna, has since denied comments attributed to him in the media about the rebel activities. He said he never talked to The Monitor stringer in Fort Portal.
Bundibugyo district was most hit during the UPDF offensive against the ADF between 1996-2000. Many people died and thousands were displaced.
It is because of this rebellion that the Ugandan government sent up to 14 battalions into eastern DR Congo beginning late in 1998.
In an earlier report, "ADF Planning Attack - Army" (The Monitor, Sept. 30), our stringer in Fort Portal quoted an aide in the 2 Division commander's office whom he mistook to be Col. Kivuna. We regret the mix-up - Editor.
