KINSHASA, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo have announced joint operations against an ISIS-linked militia based in eastern Congo, which is blamed for a string of recent bombings in Kampala and killing hundreds of Congolese civilians.

Following joint air and artillery strikes on Tuesday, Congo said special forces from both countries would be deployed to secure bases belonging to the Islamist-inspired Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia.

The ADF began as an uprising in Uganda but has been based in Congo since the late 1990s and pledged allegiance to the ISIS in mid-2019.

IS has in turn claimed responsibility for some of the ADF's violence, including a recent spate of bombings in Uganda. But United Nations researchers have found no evidence of ISIS command and control over ADF operations.

Picture: A Congolese boy walks past a wall near the Alima Ebola treatment centre in Beni, in the Democratic Republic of Congo - Reuters