Uganda: LRA Scatters Under Pressure

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October 8, 2005: The UN criminal court has issued warrants for the arrest of five senior LRA leaders on war crimes charges. Now Uganda can urge foreign nations to execute the warrant if these LRA big shots show up in their territory. Uganda is still offering amnesty to some of these guys, and the important thing is to get the word, about the warrants, out to the scattered LRA bands, to put pressure on the senior LRA people.


October 7, 2005: The UN and Congolese troop deployment in the Congo's northeast has forces the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to withdraw. Uganda reported that as many as 400 LRA supporters had fled Uganda for the Congo. On September 29, Uganda told the Congo that unless the Congo took action against the LRA rebels, Uganda would consider sending forces into the Congo. With the aid of UN forces (primarily helilift), the Congo began deploying troops earlier this week. Initial reports said the Congo had sent 1000 troops to the town of Aba. The troops were supported by at least one helicopter gunship. Now Uganda reports that the LRA rebels have left the Congo and moved into Sudan. The LRA unit began withdrawing from the Congo on October 6. The move into Sudan means the Ugandan military will pursue and attack the rebels. The Sudan government allows the Ugandan military to conduct operations against the LRA in south Sudan.

October 6, 2005: The army confirmed that they had killed LRA leader Brigadier Dominic Ongwen. They had to bring in other LRA members (who had accepted the amnesty) to identify the body of Ongwen (who was killed last week).

October 5, 2005: The LRA appear to have broken up into small groups of 10-20 people, making it more difficult to

October 4, 2005: In a remote area of the north, LRA rebels killed five civilians. It was thought that all LRA gunmen were outside the country (in Sudan or Congo). On the Congolese border, several hundred Congolese troops showed up, to try and chase LRA members back into Uganda, where the Ugandan army is waiting for them. Some 2,000 Congolese troops are on the way to the border.