Uganda sent troops to its central African neighbour in December to help fight 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. One of the crashes was near the village of Boga in Congo’s Ituri province on Monday, and the other was in the border zone of Kabarole, Uganda on Tuesday, he said.

Uganda’s army spokesman Felix Kulayigye confirmed one helicopter crash and said « there were fatalities, but I don’t have any extra details at the moment ».

Three Congolese soldiers died in the first crash, the source said, but did not specify whether they were in the helicopter or on the ground.