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Some 400 rebels in northeast surrender to Ugandan army

Country Map - DRC (Bunia) IRIN
This most recent round of armed hostilities followed the weekend theft and destruction of some 300,000 doses of various vaccines
    NAIROBI
    The Ugandan army has said that between 401 and 425 fighters of Thomas Lubanga’s rebel Union des patriotes congolais (UPC), which it expelled from Bunia on 6 March, have surrendered because they want to participate in the peace process. Argence France-Presse and the Ugandan government-owned newspaper, The New Vision, reported that representatives of the group, which had been active in the Ituri District of Orientale Province, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, announced their surrender after meeting officials of the Uganda People's Defence Forces in Bundibugyo last weekend. The Congolese rebels included “Major” Kyaligonza, the UPC's overall commander in Bunia. The UPC was once allied to Uganda. The New Vision reported on Wednesday that the rebels had defected because they believed that Lubanga was misleading them. The UPC refused to sign the Ituri Cessation of Hostilities Agreement reached on 18 March between rival governments, political, ethnic and militia groups. The Ugandan army has said it will stay in Bunia until 24 April, when an Ituri Pacification Commission is expected to have been set up.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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