THE majority of LRA rebels led by vice-chairman Brig. Vincent Otti have fled to Sudan to join their leader Joseph Kony, security sources said yesterday. Other commanders who fled with Otti include Abudema and Kapere. The rebels, who have been terrorising Teso, Lango and Acholi region for a year, fled to Sudan through Pader. In the last few weeks, Otti lost four of his bodyguards. Four others plus his wife surrendered to the UPDF. Last week, the army dispersed an LRA high command meeting, which was to be chaired by Otti at the confluence of River Agago and River Aswa. Last year, the rebels lost their army boss Brig. Charles Tabuley and their spy chief Brig. Caesar Acellam. Military sources said the groups in Lango region and Pader were led by Kwoyello. The whereabouts of senior LRA commander Yardin Nyeko was not known.
| It doesn't sound like the LRA's had a good year, does it? |
Army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza declined to say how the rebels entered Sudan. "If you can’t manage the heat in the kitchen, you just run out from the kitchen." He said the rebels had been suffering major defeats in recent months. He said they had been routed from Teso and Lango where they had expected to abduct children and loot food to replenish their supplies. "In the last few weeks the rebels have been trying to return to Sudan as our pressure on them has increased," Reuters quoted Bantariza yesterday. "It’s now the dry season and we can move our vehicles around much quicker with no mud to slow us down."
| Likely they'll be back when the rainy season comes back... |
Bantariza said Uganda was worried the LRA still had arms caches at some of their abandoned camps, which had not yet been occupied by Sudan. An army spokesman in the north, Lt. Chris magezi, told Reuters that since the beginning of the year, the army had killed 82 rebels, captured 40, rescued 147 people and seized several guns. The UPDF yesterday reported discovering an arms cache in Akala hills in Kilak county in Gulu district. Northern region army spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda said the cache included 14 short machine-guns, seven anti-personnel mines, seven tins of ammunition for SMG, a radio communication system, a general purpose machine-gun and one SPG-9 gun. Ankunda said the bulk of the rebel group had fled to Sudan. "They could not stand the heat," he said.
| Yeah, but a safe haven for them represents a problem for you... |
The rebels fled their bases in Southern Sudan when Sudan and Uganda resolved their political differences, allowing the Ugandan army to hunt the rebels inside Sudan. The UPDF operation, code-named Operation Iron Fist, attacked all the seven Kony bases in Lubangatek. Recent military estimates said over 60% of the LRA strength has been destroyed since Operation Iron Fist began. Military sources said the rebels were fleeing for fear of the dry season when bushes in the north would be burned, giving the army a big advantage. "But even in Sudan, the impending signing of a peace agreement between the Sudan government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) will mark the death of the LRA," the source said.
Assuming Omar doesn’t decide to start up the war there all over again, that is ... |