Uganda takes control of 2 DRC towns: army spokesman

Members of the M23 armed group sit on a pickup truck during a patrol as women carrying fruits walk past a market, following the takeover of the city by the M23 movement on February 18, 2025. [AFP]

The Ugandan army said Thursday it had taken control of the Democratic Republic of Congo towns of Kasenyi and Tchomia to "prevent inter-ethnic fighting".

While Rwanda backs the M23 armed group that has taken huge swathes of the mineral-rich eastern DRC in recent months, neighbouring Uganda has played a more complex role.

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

But analysts say it is also keen to secure economic advantages, including control of Congolese gold mines and wider trade.

Chris Magezi, spokesman for the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF), posted a video on X saying it showed "UPDF troops being welcomed in Kasenyi, DRC, today".

"We occupied it and Tchomia today to prevent inter-ethnic fighting and to protect the population," he added.

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.