Uganda army takes control of two DRC towns, says UPDF

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Nairobi, Kenya

Troops of the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces- UPDF earlier today (Thursday, June 5) took control of the DR Congo towns of Kasenyi and Tchomia.

Col Chris Magezi, the acting Defence Public Information officer, has since revealed that, "we occupied it and Tchomia today to prevent inter-ethnic fighting and to protect the population." 

In a post on social media X, Magezi also shared a video on X saying it showed "UPDF troops being welcomed in Kasenyi, DRC, today". He also attached a location map.

Both are towns in DRC's Ituri province, on the vast Lake Albert that separates Uganda and DRC and is the site of a massive oil exploration project being constructed by Uganda with French firm TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation.

In February, Uganda said it had "taken control" of security in the Ituri provincial capital, Bunia.

Uganda has worked alongside the DRC government to fight Islamist insurgents in the region.

In recent months, the M23 armed group has taken huge swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC.

Earlier this year, President Yoweri Museveni said it is not true that the Ugandan army, UPDF, has deployed troops in Eastern Congo to help the Congolese government fight the M-23 rebels.

In the statement published on February 21, 2025, President Museveni gave the genesis of UPDF's recent operations in DRC.

Sections of the public statement issued to counter reports Al-Jazeera TV, Museveni stated, "about 4 years ago, the government of H.E Tshisekedi, at long last, listened to our requests of allowing us to help the Congo Army fight the ADF terrorists that had been killing Congolese and Ugandans with impunity, using Congolese territory, for the previous 20 plus years, ever since 2002.

We were very happy for H.E. Tshisekedi to do this, and it has helped the Congolese citizens in the area; they have gone back to their villages, and the Ugandans are no longer being killed.

With the mandate of the East African Force cancelled by the Congo government, the UPDF remained with the two tasks: to fight the ADF alongside the Congo Army and to protect the Construction of the Kasindi-Beni-Butembo Road.

With the deteriorating security situation in Eastern Congo, we secured the permission of the Congo government to deploy in Lubero, near Butembo and Bunia, to the North of our operational area.

Our presence in Congo, therefore, has nothing to do with fighting the M-23 rebels. Right from the beginning, our advice to the involved parties in the Congo government-M-23 conflict was negotiations.

The history of that conflict is well known, and the solutions are there. The regional conferences of EAC and SADC have guided on this.