In a post on X, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the president's son and head of Uganda's defense forces, threatened to strike the town of Bunia in neighboring eastern Congo except "all forces" there turned in their weapons within 24 hours.
He noted that he had been authorized by the president of the country, his father, Yoweri Museveni, to go on with the offensive unless the forces in Bunia surrendered within the next 24 hours.
Kainerugaba had claimed earlier on Saturday that members of the Bahima ethnic group were being slaughtered, but he had not shown any proof, as reported by Reuters.
"My people, the Bahima are being attacked. That's a very dangerous situation for those attacking my people. No one on this earth can kill my people and think he will not suffer for it!" he said.
"Bunia will soon be in UPDF hands," he said in a separate post, referring to the Uganda People's Defence Force.
He also proceeded to post very gruesome videos of mass murders on his X page which he claimed were being perpetrated by Congolese militias.
Concerns that an engagement between Congolese forces and M23 rebels supposedly supported by Rwanda may turn into larger regional warfare are exacerbated by the threat posed by General Muhoozi, the Reuters report revealed.
The conflict in eastern DRC escalated in January 2025, with clashes in Goma, North Kivu, displacing over 480,000 people and worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis.
5.6 million Congolese were internally displaced at the time, with more than 4 million of them living in the eastern regions.
As armed groups and military forces continue to combat, civilians continue to be regular targets.
In 2022, the general who has a long history of putting out controversial tweets referred to M23 as "brothers of ours" fighting for the rights of Tutsis in Congo.
Earlier in January, the Ugandan military chief via a tweet, relayed his intentions of beheading the country's most prominent opposition leader, Bobi Wine.
Kainerugaba stated that his father, whom he referred to by the title Mzee, was the sole reason Bobi Wine was being protected from him.
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