TPDF spokesman Col Ngemela Lubinga
The Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF)
yesterday denied allegations by a United Nations (UN) group of experts
that it colluded with the enemy on its peacekeeping mission in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Speaking to The Guardian yesterday, TPDF spokesperson Col Ngemela
Lubinga rubbished the claims, describing them as baseless and unfounded.
Col Lubinga said it was not possible for Tanzanian troops to take
sides with ADF and supply them with weapons while it (TPDF) overpowered
and defeated the latter in the Congo.
“Such claims are propagated by what I would call the fifth column
who, for their own interests, disrupt our force’s mission in Congo,”
said the spokesperson, adding:
“The allegations deserve being ignored. We need a foreign docket to take up the matter to restore our global image,” he said..
He said the TPDF was a diplomatic army which had gained a lot of
respect on its missions and during the liberation movement struggles and
therefore could hardly be associated with the supply of weapons to, or
collaborate with an enemy.
However, a confidential report by a United Nations group of experts
obtained yesterday depicts instances of apparent collusion with the
enemy or outside forces on the part of Tanzanian peacekeepers and
government troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The allegations stemmed from a May 2015 incident in North Kivu
province where two Tanzanian peacekeepers were killed and 26 others
wounded in an attack, initially thought to have been carried out by the
Alliance of Democratic Forces (ADF), a set of fighters from Uganda.
The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC
(Monusco), however, revealed that the attack on the Tanzanian troops was
actually the work of the Congolese government army, identified by the
French acronym, Fardc.
Eyewitnesses told the group of experts that Fardc soldiers from the
31st brigade had opened fire on the Tanzanian soldiers after two
civilians revealed the soldiers’ involvement in giving supplies to ADF.
Made up of Ugandan opposition forces, ADF, which was originally a
Ugandan-based insurgency, now operates in eastern DRC and is listed as a
terrorist organization.
In an incident last May in North Kivu, the group recounts, two
Tanzanian peacekeepers were killed and 26 wounded in an attack initially
thought to have been carried out by the Alliance of Democratic Forces, a
set of fighters from Uganda.
The ADF is one of the main rebel groups in eastern DRC that
terrorise civilians and has been targeted for elimination by UN
peacekeepers and the Congolese government army.
A subsequent investigation by the UN mission in the DRC, Monusco,
revealed, however, that the attack on the Tanzanians was actually the
work of the Congolese government army, Fardc.
Eyewitnesses told the group of experts that Fardc soldiers from the
31st brigade opened fire on the Tanzanians after two civilians had
indicated that the Tanzanians were providing supplies to their supposed
enemy, the ADF.
The experts say in their report that they could not be certain why the Tanzanian peacekeepers were meeting with ADF elements.
But the group adds that it “can conclude that the Tanzanian
peacekeepers who were present during the attack provided untruthful
testimonies to both the group and Monusco.”
APPARENT CONFUSION
In another incident of confusion and possible collusion last
November, the ADF and a second armed group unidentified in the UN
report, attacked and overran a Fardc camp in North Kivu.
Fardc commanders asked for help from a Malawian detachment of the
UN peacekeepers as the attack was underway, the report says. But the
Fardc officers did not subsequently inform the Malawian unit that the
camp had been captured by the ADF.
When the Malawians arrived, they saw men in the camp wearing Fardc
uniforms. The Malawians assumed these were friendly elements, but the
men shot at the Malawian soldiers, killing one of them, the group
reports.
The UN experts add that the Fardc commander of the camp knew in advance that an attack would occur.
A DRC military prosecutor in Beni, in North Kivu, has opened a case
against the commander and has further requested that the head of Fardc
operations in the region, Gen Mbangu, be handed over for questioning.
Fardc involvement in attempted arms smuggling to a rebel group in Burundi is also described in the report.
Two Congolese army officers were arrested in October and November
of last year in Goma, North Kivu, while trying, with five accomplices,
to move DRC weaponry into other countries.
Some of those apprehended told the group of experts that the weapons were intended for an anti-government unit inside Burundi.
One of the two Fardc officers was found to be selling arms from storage areas maintained by the DRC army, the report notes.
SOURCE: Daily Nation, Kenya
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