Uganda’s navy says it has captured a commander of an extremist group accused in vacationer assault

KAMPALA, Uganda — A Ugandan navy spokesperson says troops have captured a commander of an extremist group whose fighters are accused of killing two vacationers final month.

Col. Deo Akiiki mentioned Wednesday {that a} senior commander with the Allied Democratic Forces, a insurgent whose nom de guerre is Njovu, was in navy custody.

Njovu was captured throughout an change of fireplace on Lake Edward on Uganda’s border with Congo. An unknown variety of rebels drowned or have been shot within the preventing Tuesday night time, based on Akiiki.

Njovu has been in command of operations such because the homicide in October of a South African vacationer and her British husband whereas they have been honeymooning in distant Queen Elizabeth Nationwide Park. Their Ugandan information additionally was killed and their automobile set on fireplace.

The ADF has ties to the Islamic State group. Following the assault on the vacationers, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni urged safety companies to make sure the group “is worn out.”

Ugandan troops are searching down the ADF deep inside Congo, the place the group is amongst dozens of insurgent outfits working in a big swath of territory. Ugandan authorities say lots of of ADF rebels have been killed in airstrikes in current months.

The ADF originated in Uganda however was pressured to flee to jap Congo, the place it’s accused of finishing up a number of assaults focusing on civilians. The group will not be recognized to say duty for assaults it carries out.

The ADF often conducts cross-border assaults. In a single assault in June, the group was accused of massacring at the least 41 individuals, most of them college students, in a raid on a Ugandan neighborhood close to the border.