File photo shows Ugandan soldiers march during celebrations for Uganda's 50th independence anniversary in Kampala, Uganda, Oct. 9, 2012. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)
KAMPALA, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Ugandan military on Friday said the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) endorsed its attack on the rebel Allied Democratic Force (ADF) in the eastern part of the vast central African country.
Army spokesman Brig. Richard Karemire said in a statement that the leaders of the two countries have been in talks on possible ways of eliminating the ADF, a Ugandan rebel group holed up in eastern DRC.
"Recently, the DRC authorities proposed that the two countries plan and conduct limited joint operations against this growing terrorist menace in our neighborhood," Karemire said.
Karemire said this understanding led to this afternoon's attack on the ADF bases using fighter jets.
"These terrorists should know that they may only buy time, but will be targeted wherever they are," Karemire said.
The military in a statement issued here said the troops carried out a preemptive attack after receiving intelligence information that rebels were planning to attack Uganda.
"In a preemptive move, this afternoon UPDF (Uganda People's Defense Forces) conducted attacks on their camps in eastern DRC. ADF terrorists may only buy time but will be targeted wherever they are hiding!" the statement said.
Karemire told Xinhua in an interview later that the military used fighter jets.
"Our troops didn't enter DRC. We employed the Air forces and long range artillery to carry out the attacks," he said.
The ADF have been blamed for recent attacks in eastern DRC including the Dec. 7 killing of 15 Tanzanian UN peacekeepers in North Kivu province.