Uganda’s army reported killing 242 fighters from the Congolese rebel group CODECO after the militants attacked a Ugandan military camp in eastern Congo earlier this week. The claim, however, has been contested by the rebel group and a United Nations source.
According to Uganda military spokesperson Chris Magezi, hundreds of CODECO fighters launched assaults on a Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) post in Fataki, Ituri province, on Wednesday and Thursday. He stated that 31 rebels were killed on the first day and 211 on the second, adding that one UPDF soldier died and four others sustained injuries.
CODECO spokesperson Basa Zukpa Gerson disputed the military’s figures, asserting that the group lost only two fighters while Uganda suffered heavier casualties. A UN source, speaking anonymously, estimated that 70 rebels and 12 Ugandan soldiers were killed.
Fighting between the two sides reportedly continued into Saturday morning, according to CODECO and a local civil society leader. The rebel group, which claims to defend Lendu farmers against Hema herders, is one of several militias involved in conflicts over land and mineral resources in eastern Congo.
Uganda deployed troops to Congo in 2021 to combat the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic State-linked group responsible for brutal village attacks. UPDF forces were recently stationed in northern Ituri to prevent ADF incursions and control refugee movements into Uganda.
