Ugandan, Congolese troops free 200 captives held by ISIS-linked militants

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — Uganda People’s Defense Force (UPDF) soldiers, provide security as they prepare to transport a simulated casualty during a medical exercise at Camp Singo, Uganda, March 3, 2017. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Penny Snoozy via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS))

KAMPALA  -  Ugandan and Congolese soldiers rescued at least 200 civilians in a raid on an Islamist militant camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last week, Uganda's military said on Monday. 

The captives had been held by the Allied Democratic Forces, a Ugandan group operating in eastern Congo that pledged allegiance to Islamic State a decade ago.

The ADF has killed thousands of civilians in eastern Congo since stepping up attacks in 2014, according to U.N. figures. Congo's army has said the group was responsible for kidnapping large numbers of civilians and forcing young female captives into marriages with fighters.

The Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces said in a statement that those freed from the camp along the River Epulu included a 14-year-old girl. UPDF spokesperson Chris Magezi told Reuters the raid was conducted last week.

"Several appeared frail, suffering from untreated illnesses such as malaria, respiratory infections, and physical exhaustion," the UPDF statement said. 

Uganda sent troops to Congo in 2021 to help the Kinshasa government fight the ADF.

The ADF took up arms against Ugandan authorities in the mid-1990s from bases in western Uganda but was routed in the early 2000s, forcing its members to flee across the border into Congo. 

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema and Vincent Mumo Nzilani; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Sharon Singleton // REUTERS)