The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has declared, that it was not aware that communities in the Northern part of the country were seeking peace deals with bandits and terrorists for protection.
Director Defence Media Operations, Major General Markus Kangye stated this on Thursday while fielding questions after biweekly briefing.
Terrorists had reportedly placed levies on communities in the North for protection, and some communities after losing hope of being protect by security agencies were said to seek for peace deal with the bandits.
Responding to this, Major General Kangye said, “To the best of our knowledge, we have never had any peace deal with bandits as mentioned. Why do communities want to do that? I don’t think they want to accept approval from the military to do so. And the military, I don’t think they are aware of that.
“The military is conducting their operations according to the rules of the game, and for the conduct of internal security operations like I have told you. So, if any community calls for a mandate for peace with bandits, the military does not support that. They don’t support that,” Maj.-Gen. Kangye said.
The Director said the military would not fold hands and allow brazen attacks on the nation’s critical infrastructure.
Commenting on the invasion of electricity distribution companies, he maintained that the military is a disciplined profession and would not tolerate such acts.
He explained that there are chains of command in the military, saying that the issues must have been dealt with appropriately.
“The armed forces does not, and never tolerate any uncoordinated conduct of soldiers. The military has awarded punishment for what they have done. In some cases, they were even dismissed from the army, asked to leave the army, dismissed from the army based on the terms of the offence. So I’m sure that it should have been dealt with at unit level,” Kangye said.
