Congo President says Ugandan troops will be in Congo temporarily

Ugandan troops are in Congo to ostensibly fight the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) which recently declared itself an Islamist militant group allied with the Islamic State. 

This follows a number of bomb explosions in Kampala recently by the ADF using Improvised Explosive Devices. 

After these terrorist attacks, Uganda and Congo launched a joint operation against the ADF which threatens to draw out into a much longer operation than previously perceived by both countries. 

However, President Felix Tshisekedi insists that this operation’s duration is time bound and will not escalate into Uganda troops becoming an occupying force. 

"I will ensure that the presence of Ugandan troops on our soil is limited to the time strictly necessary for this operation," Tshisekedi said in a state of the union speech.

In the past, Uganda's intervention in Congo for “security reasons” has snowballed into human rights abuses and plunder by Ugandan forces during Congo's 1998-2003 civil war. 

Tshisekedi, however, insists that such a harrowing past is a thing of the past and will not play out into consequences of this recent operation.