Following DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi authorisation of US special forces to 'help' Congolese army battle the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group linked to ISIL (ISIS), the Kampala Post has learnt that there is unease among East African Community countries after this deployment of US troops on their borders.
Highly placed sources familiar with the deployment told this website that the East African member states also wonder why the US never consulted them before making such a decision.
This website also understands that Uganda has been asking the DRC and its leader Felix Tshisekedi to allow Ugandan forces to attack the rebels (originally from Uganda) for over a year but the DRC leadership refused.
Congo is bounded to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania; to the north by the Central African Republic and South Sudan; to the southeast by Zambia; and to the southwest by Angola. To the west are the country's short Atlantic coastline, the Angolan exclave of Cabinda, and Congo (Brazzaville).
Sources inside the DRC also indicate that there is widespread opposition in the DRC as well following the new development.
The ADF, which the United States has deemed a “terrorist” group, is considered the deadliest of dozens of armed militias that roam the mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“President Felix Tshisekedi authorised the deployment of American anti-terrorism experts in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said a statement from the presidency on Sunday.
The US forces will reportedly boost the Congolese army’s fight against ADF in the national parks of Virunga and Garamba.
The mission will last several weeks and is specifically directed against the ADF, according to the statement.
This deployment also comes as US President Joe Biden faces mounting criticism following the US exit from Afghanistan that has plunged the middle east country in chaos.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador Mike Hammer, who presented the team to President Tshisekedi, said its presence was part of a partnership agreed between the two countries in 2019, according to the presidency’s statement.
Last month, the ADF rebels killed at least 230 soldiers and wounded many others belonging to the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC). This was during fierce fighting at Malibongo in Ituri, eastern DR Congo.
