LRA kill 2 in South Sudan ambush

GRACE MATSIKO

Kampala

In an apparent revenge attack following military raids on their territories, suspected Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have killed two civilians in South Sudan, a regional official has said.

The Deputy Governor of the Western Equatoria state, Joseph Ngere told Sudan Tribune, a Sudanese online daily publication on Friday, suspected LRA rebels killed two youths in an ambush at Tore, an area on the South Sudan-Democratic Republic of Congo border on Thursday.

“The deputy governor Ngere said there are growing fears in Western Equatoria state that the fighting may spill over to the state,” the Sudan Tribune quoted the governor as saying.

Uganda, DR Congo and the semi-autonomous South Sudan last Sunday launched joint military strikes in an operation codenamed ‘Lightning Thunder’ against the LRA rebels who have been holed up in north-eastern Congo’s Garamba forests since 2005.

But the statement by Governor Ngere on the attack could be a signal that, though the LRA may have been displaced from its bases as a result of last Sunday’s air strikes, the reclusive rebel leader Joseph Kony’s will to forment mischief is not yet over.

Last Sunday’s strike had the stated objective of applying pressure on Kony to sign the Final Peace Agreement negotiated with the Uganda government since 2006. The operation’s commander, Brig. Patrick Kankiriho has said they wanted to “break Kony’s back”.

However, emerging information suggests that the rebels may have been tipped-off before the attack, meaning the onslaught hit empty encampments and ultimately appears to have failed in its primary objective.

Thursday’s ambush at Tore is the one consequence of military action that political leaders in northern Uganda had warned about, saying the LRA could mount retaliatory strikes, forcing their people who have enjoyed relative peace back into the crowded internally displaced persons camps.

Meanwhile, the LRA peace delegation chairman, Mr. David Nyekorach Matsanga said by telephone yesterday, he could not confirm or deny the attack. He promised to verify the information from military commanders on the ground.

“As far we are concerned we are ready for peace not fighting,” Mr Matsanga said. “If there is ceasefire, it will enable our troops to re-assemble in Rii-kwangba, the designated assembly point,” he added.

Mr Matsanga told Sunday Monitor yesterday, they have not closed the door to peace efforts but will no longer allow South Sudan’s semi-autonomous government to chair any talks. Until last Sunday, South Sudan Vice President, Dr Riek Machar, was chief mediator to the Juba peace process.

“I have spoken to LRA and they are asking for cessation of hostilities. They are however saying future negotiations cannot take place in Sudan because the Sudan People’s Liberation Army participated in the raids,” Mr Matsanga said.

When contacted the spokesman for the UPDF troops deployed in the DRC, Capt. Chris Magezi said they have not heard of the attack.
“We are not aware of that,” Capt. Magezi said via satellite telephone link from Dungu yesterday.

Sunday Monitor has separately learnt that the army has stepped up its vigilance in West Nile. Before Operation Lightning Thunder, the army had repeatedly said they have secured Uganda’s borders against possible infiltration by the LRA, a terror group that for years has used panga’s, among other weapons, to kill and maim their victims.
Up to two million Ugandans were at one time internally displaced in northern Uganda as result of the insurgency.

The Governor of Central Equatoria state, which covers the provincial capital of Juba, Major General Clement Wani Konga, on Monday warned of imminent attacks by the LRA rebels in the region.
The UPDF said military strikes on Kony’s bases were necessary to force the elusive rebel leader to sign a peace deal. Kony has thrice failed to show up at the signing venue since at various since the beginning of this year.

Meanwhile, Sunday Monitor has established that the UPDF have established their second tactical headquarters at Camp Swahili, the former LRA headquarters, inside the Garamba forests that were occupied by the troops this week.

Between September 17 and October 4, sources in Monuc, the UN mission in DR Congo, say the LRA attacked 10 villages and abducted of between 100 and 200 people, as well as killing up to a 100 others. The attacks displaced over 70,000 people.