KAMPALA, Uganda

Uganda on Thursday released 35 Congolese fishermen after eight months in custody on charges of illegal fishing in the country’s territorial waters.

They were handed over to Congolese authorities in Kasindi, a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, according to Lt. Pecos Longwa, a security official in the region.

The fishermen were apprehended earlier this year by Ugandan authorities in the waters of Lake Edward, which both countries share.

Mbusa Kavasya, a representative for Congolese fishermen, welcomed the release of his colleagues and thanked the DR Congo government for its efforts to secure their freedom.

Lake Edward is located between Uganda and DR Congo, and fishermen do at times face action for inadvertently breaching their respective territorial boundaries.