TOPSHOT-DRCONGO-UGANDA-UNREST-CONFLICT

TOPSHOT - Ezekiel, a soldier from the 214th DP Battalion of the DRC Armed Forces (FARDC) engaged in Operation Shujaa, drives on a pick-up truck on the road between Bulongo and Beni, North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, on December 17, 2024. Since the end of 2021, Uganda has deployed troops in the north-east of the DRC, in the Beni region and in Ituri, officially to help the Congolese army fight the ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) rebels affiliated to the Islamic State (ISIS). This operation, dubbed 'Shujaa', succeeded in bringing a semblance of peace to the area around Beni as far as the Ugandan border, but it dispersed the ADF into isolated areas where they continue to carry out bloody attacks on civilians. In the areas secured by the UPDF, the local population appreciates the return of peace, but wonders about the real intentions of Kampala, whose cohabitation with Congolese civilians and soldiers is causing tensions. (Photo by PHILÉMON BARBIER / AFP) (Photo by PHILEMON BARBIER/AFP via Getty Images)