By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Five people were on Friday morning killed during a gunfire exchange between the UPDF and a suspected Congolese rebel group that attacked the Ugandan army detach in Zeu sub-county in Zombo.
“Today at 6:00 am, the UPDF unit at Zeu in Zombo repulsed an attack by 20 men disguising as forest workers,” UPDF spokesperson, Brig Flavia Byekwaso said in a statement on Friday afternoon.
She explained that four of the attackers were killed in action, two captured and one UPDF soldier killed where a gun, bows and arrows were recovered from the enemy force.
The army spokesperson named the attackers as part of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Cooperation for the Development of Congo (CODECO) rebel group.
The commander Land Forces who also doubles as the Senior Presidential Advisor on special operations, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba earlier on Friday morning hailed the UPDF for repulsing the attackers.
“Our unit in Zeu, Zombo District was attacked by Congolese rebels called CODECO (Cooperation for the Development of Congo). Our boys performed brilliantly and repulsed the attackers,” he tweeted.
The development comes a few days after the commander of the rebel group that attacked a UPDF detach in Zombo last year handed himself over to the army.
“Four days ago the so-called ‘Colonel Atochon’, Commander of the rebel group that attacked our troops in Zombo in March of last year surrendered to UPDF,” Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba said.
