May 13,
2008: The LRA is once again conducting a
kidnapping campaign. In the last month or so, 300-400 people have been abducted
by the LRA in south Sudan, Congo, and in the Central African Republic (CAR).
Could the Uganda-LRA war re-ignite? The fact is, it has never quite subsided.
At the moment it looks as if surviving LRA cadres are spread over a very wide
area—and are not concentrated in northern Uganda. They are robbing and looting
villages from the CAR to Sudan in order to survive.
May 9,
2008: Uganda's main negotiating team said that it would give the LRA "one more
chance" to sign the peace agreement. The peace deal was originally supposed to
be signed by April 10; however, it wasn't. On April 28 the LRA rejected a
government "peace ultimatum."
April 29,
2008: Uganda accused UN soldiers operating in eastern Congo of "arming ADF"
rebels. The Ugandan statement did not provide any evidence to support the
accusation. A MONUC spokesman denied the accusation.
April 22,
2008: An LRA faction had entered the a village south of the town of Yambio and
kidnapped three people. The LRA thugs also looted the town, stealing machetes
and hoes. The machetes make sense – the LRA uses them as weapons. As for the
hoes? Who knows.
April 21,
2008: Uganda complained that UN peacekeepers in Congo had failed to stop a
faction of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) from operating in eastern Congo.
Uganda remains concerned that the ADF is attempting to reorganize. Over the
last two years Uganda occasionally reports ADF "infiltrators" slipping into
Uganda from Congo. The last big firefight between Ugandan security forces and
the ADF took place in late March, 2006. Despite the complaint, there is some
security cooperation, however. A Congo security force captured an ADF fighter
on April 19 and turned him over to Ugandan police.
