UPDF Brutally Smashes ADF Rebels,14 Women Rescued From Captivity- See What Happened 👇

By Gad Masereka

14 female prisoners kidnapped by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) group have been liberated by the UPDF as part of the joint operation Shuja in eastern DRC with the FARDC.

The UPDF Mountain Division’s and Operation Shuja’s spokesperson, Maj. Bilal Katamba, stated that the rescue occurred after troops operating in North Kivu’s Mwalika valley made contact with an ADF unit led by Abu Waqas at the junction of the River Talha and the Semuliki.

A Burundian national who was Abu Waqas’s wife and had served in the ADF for five years is among those who have been apprehended, according to Maj Katamba.

He identified Abu Waqa as the leader of the squad that attacked Kasese’s Lhubiriha Secondary School last month.

The news broke as Maj Gen Dick Olum, commander of UPDF operation Shuja, and Maj Gen Kasongo Maloba, commander of FARDC Beni area, met at the tactical headquarters of UPDF operation Shuja in Kasindi. The commanders addressed topics pertaining to operation Shujaa and provided tactical and operational advice.

The gathering also acted as a pre-review meeting to get ready for the upcoming Fort Portal, Uganda, quarterly operations Shujaa review meeting. Since December 2021, when airstrikes and artillery attacks were initiated on the group’s bases in the dense eastern DRC troops, the UPDF has been closely pursuing the ADF rebels.

The operation came after terrorist assaults in Kampala that resulted in twin explosives that targeted Parliamentary Avenue and the Central Police Station, killing over 10 people and injuring dozens more. During this time, other ADF camps have also been destroyed and numerous DRC locations have been freed from their rule.

Last month, President Museveni stated that throughout this time, about 500 ADF soldiers had died. Additionally, it is reported that a number of top ADF commanders were killed during the operation, although it has been two years since the operation began and it is unknown where the top commander, Musa Baluku, is.

No additional evidence has been offered to support the early reports from the beginning of the operation that he had been killed in one of the air and artillery attacks by the Ugandan army.

However, Baluku appears to have disappeared, and there is no information about his activities in the DRC, despite the fact that authorities from the Ugandan army claim the search for him is still ongoing.