The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
North Kivu, DRC | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) have spoken out on a road crash involving soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). UPDF’s response comes on a picture that shows that several soldiers had perished in a road crash that occurred at Beni-Biakato road.
Maj Bilal Katamba, the Public Information Officer for UPDF’s Mountain Division and Shujaa Operations confirmed that the road crash happened two days ago but it was not fatal. According to Maj Katamba, soldiers sustained minor injuries have since improved.
“Our troops under operation Shujaa while heading for operation got involved in a motor vehicle accident at MAKEKE between Mangina and Lebia on Beni- Biakato road. The Accident occurred on 22 October 2024. The cause of the accident is majorly due to poor road,” Maj Katamba said.
UPDF raided the thick DRC forests in November 2021 to hunt down Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels after several bombs went off in Kampala leaving five civilians and a policeman dead. The suicide bombers were linked to ADF and UPDF engaged DRC which allowed them to raid the forests to neutralize the enemy territory.
Several air and road crashes of UPDF helicopters and trucks have happened leaving some soldiers and civilians dead. The most tragic helicopter crash happened in October 2022 leaving 22 civilians and soldiers dead.
UPDF remained tightlipped on the incident. The journalists in Uganda and other foreign media houses gathered the details. UPDF helicopter Mi-17, which was primarily used for transportation, hit a tree shortly after taking off and crashed on troops on the ground collecting food it had just delivered.
Maj Katamba has said investigations to establish the possible other causes for the latest road crash are ongoing. “Some of our troops involved got minor injuries and are out of danger and our operations are not affected. We thank our UPDF/ FARDC joint medical team who played a big role on time to quickly stabilise those injured,” Maj Katamba said.
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