KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Congo’s government spokesman says the military is declaring victory against a Ugandan rebel group.

Lambert Mende said Thursday there had been heavy fighting in the town of Saasita between soldiers and rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces rebel group.

Mende said Saasita had been the last base held by the ADF. Residents said the fighters were seen fleeing into the famed Virunga national park, home to hundreds of endangered mountain gorillas.

The ADF group was formed in the 1990s in Uganda and has been blamed for attacks in eastern Congo including a massacre in December that killed at least 21 people.

Eastern Congo has long been plagued by a myriad of armed groups vying for control of the mineral-rich region.

Source: Associated Press