Uganda captures bomb expert of Islamic State group-allied rebel group

PHOTO CAPTION: Members of the Ugandan army, part of the troops to the East Africa Community Regional Force (EACRF), stand at a settlement ceded by M23 rebels fighters to EACRF soldiers in Bunagana, Rutshuru territory of the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Arlette Bashizi

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's military has captured a commander of an Islamic State-allied rebel group who is an expert in making improvised explosive devices, or bombs, that the group has used to carry out deadly attacks in the past, the army said on Sunday.

The insurgent, Anywari Al Iraq, a Ugandan, was captured in the jungles of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where the rebel group Allied Democratic Forces is based, the military, Uganda People's Defence Forces, said in a statement.

During the operation, nine people including children were also rescued from an area in Ituri province in Congo's east, the military said.

"An assortment of improvised explosive device (IED) making materials were recovered," it said.

The rebel ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s. It pledged allegiance to Islamic State in mid-2019 and is accused of killing hundreds of villagers in frequent raids over recent years.

In one of its most deadly attacks, the group was blamed for a November 2021 triple suicide bombing in the capital Kampala, which killed seven people, including the bombers.

In 2021, the Ugandan army launched a joint operation with the military in Congo's east to try to defeat the insurgency.



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Bernadette Baum)