The Ugandan government had repatriated almost all the 100 Congolese police officers who had sought refuge in its border to Kanungu district in southwestern Uganda to escape fighting between M23 rebels and Congo’s military. This was revealed by a Ugandan military spokesperson on Friday.
The spokesperson had released a statement saying that the police officers’ national identities had been confirmed, and that they were now permitted to enter Uganda as an act of humanity and in keeping with international law.
The officers were handed together with their weapons, ammunition and other arms, Major Kiconco Tabaro’s statement further revealed. Tabaro had also said that refugees kept flowing over the Ugandan border to escape the ongoing violence in eastern Congo.
Meanwhile, the M23 has been waging a renewed insurgency in Congo’s militia-plagued eastern region since 2022. In June, the M23 invaded the high ground town of Kanyabayonga, making it a gateway to other parts of eastern Congo’s North Kivu province.
The efforts by Congo’s military to push back the rebels have heightened over the past year with the use of drones and aircraft, even as the rebels are still expanding the territory under their control.
In North Kivu, conflict has driven more than 1.7 million people from their homes, making the total number of Congolese displaced by multiple conflicts to a record 7.2 million, according to U.N. estimates.
