Uganda's military has captured the commander of a rebel group who is an expert in making improvised explosive devices, or bombs, that the group has used to carry out deadly attacks in the past, the army said on Sunday.
The suspected insurgent, Anywari Al Iraq, a Ugandan, was captured in the jungles of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where the rebel group Allied Democratic Forces is based, the military, Uganda People's Defence Forces, said in a statement.
During the operation, nine people including children were also rescued from an area in Ituri province in DR Congo's east, the military said.
"An assortment of improvised explosive device (IED) making materials were recovered," it said.
Killed hundreds of villagers
The rebel ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in DR Congo since the late 1990s. It is accused of killing hundreds of villagers in frequent raids over recent years.
In one of its most deadly attacks, the group was blamed for a November 2021 triple suicide bombing in the capital Kampala, which killed seven people, including the bombers.
In 2021, the Ugandan army launched a joint operation with the military in DR Congo's east to try to defeat the insurgency.
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