22 killed in Congo after two Uganda helicopter crashes

At least 22 people were killed after two Ugandan military helicopters collided in the east Democratic Republic of Congo, a Congo army spokesman who asked not to be named told Reuters on Wednesday.

Uganda sent troops to its central African neighbor in December to assist in the fight against a rebel group known as the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).

The Ugandan army “have not yet told us the circumstances of the crashes,” the spokesman said.

“It involves two helicopters. We are talking about 22 dead for the time being,” he added.

The ADF started out as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the 1990s.

It is one of several militias fighting over land and resources in Congo’s mineral-rich east over the past decade. This conflict has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of people.