The Ugandan military has captured a commander from an Islamic State-aligned rebel group who is an expert in making improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which the group has used in past deadly attacks, the army announced on Sunday.
The insurgent, Anywari Al Iraq, a Ugandan national, was apprehended in the jungles of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) are based, according to a statement from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
During the operation, nine individuals, including children, were rescued from an area in Ituri province in eastern Congo, the military reported.
“An assortment of improvised explosive device (IED) making materials were recovered,” the statement added.
The ADF, which began as an uprising in Uganda, has been based in Congo since the late 1990s. The group pledged allegiance to Islamic State in mid-2019 and has been accused of killing hundreds of villagers in frequent raids over recent years.
One of the group’s most deadly attacks was the triple suicide bombing in Kampala in November 2021, which killed seven people, including the bombers.
In 2021, the Ugandan army launched a joint operation with Congo’s military to try to defeat the insurgency.
