Uganda to send 1 000 troops to DRC

KAMPALA: Uganda will send 1 000 troops to neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the end of this month to join a regional force mandated to help end decades of instability, Kampala’s military said yesterday.

The seven countries of the East African Community, which Congo joined this year, agreed in April to set up a force to fight militia groups in Congo’s restive east.

Uganda will be the third country to deploy troops after contingents from Kenya and Burundi arrived in the area, but their involvement has been opposed by some activists and officials because of Uganda’s role in Congo’s bloody civil wars.