Kampala’s efforts to reach peace with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are suspended, an army spokesman said yesterday, a day after Uganda and its neighbors launched a joint offensive against the rebels.
LRA chief Joseph Kony has repeatedly refused to sign a final agreement with Kampala, citing warrants against him and his lieutenants by the International Criminal Court (ICC). His stance has frustrated efforts to bring an end to Uganda’s 20-year civil war.
On Sunday, forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and the government of South Sudan began a military operation against Kony’s jungle hideout in eastern DR Congo.
“We are attacking the camps. So for now the peace process is off,” Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda said. “We still think that if there is an opportunity to re-open negotiations we will do it.”
The attack, in which the forces raided and set an LRA rebels’ camp on fire in the Garamba region, ended a two-year ceasefire between the Ugandan army and the rebels.
“The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Kony code-named camp Swahili, setting it on fire,” said a statement signed by the chiefs of military intelligence from the three participating forces.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the DR Congo (MONUC) said it had been warned of the operation but was not actively involved.
“MONUC was not involved in the operation’s preparations but it had been informed by Uganda,” spokesman Jean-Paul Dietrich said.
David Nyekorach-Matsanga, the LRA spokesman, condemned Sunday’s attacks but said they were still committed to peace.
“Yesterday’s attack was regrettable and will not solve the problems of northern Uganda. But the LRA is not going to retaliate,” Nyekorach-Matsanga said. “I have spoken to my commanders on the ground, including general Kony and he has told me that he intends to show restraint and that the LRA will not do anything to escalate the situation.”
He said rebels “remain open to dialogue.”
The LRA and Ugandan government have been engaged in peace talks led by the government of South Sudan for more than two years. The peace agreement was finalized in April and inked by Kampala, but the LRA chief has refused to sign.
The end of last month was identified by some parties as his last chance, but after indicating that he would sign, Kony again balked.
The LRA supremo took charge in 1988 of a regional rebellion among northern Uganda’s ethnic Acholi minority. He is accused by the ICC of raping, mutilating and murdering civilians as well as forcefully recruiting child soldiers.
The Ugandan government has expressed frustration at Kony’s repeated no-shows and has previously warned it could launch military operations against him if he failed to comply to the terms of the deal agreed by his delegation in 2006.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly 2 million displaced in the two decades of fighting between the LRA and the government.
END OF AN ERA: The vote brings the curtain down on 20 years of socialist rule, which began in 2005 when Evo Morales, an indigenous coca farmer, was elected president A center-right senator and a right-wing former president are to advance to a run-off for Bolivia’s presidency after the first round of elections on Sunday, marking the end of two decades of leftist rule, preliminary official results showed. Bolivian Senator Rodrigo Paz was the surprise front-runner, with 32.15 percent of the vote cast in an election dominated by a deep economic crisis, results published by the electoral commission showed. He was followed by former Bolivian president Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga in second with 26.87 percent, according to results based on 92 percent of votes cast. Millionaire businessman Samuel Doria Medina, who had been tipped
ELECTION DISTRACTION? When attention shifted away from the fight against the militants to politics, losses and setbacks in the battlefield increased, an analyst said Recent clashes in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Jubaland region are alarming experts, exposing cracks in the country’s federal system and creating an opening for militant group al-Shabaab to gain ground. Following years of conflict, Somalia is a loose federation of five semi-autonomous member states — Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug, Hirshabelle and South West — that maintain often fractious relations with the central government in the capital, Mogadishu. However, ahead of elections next year, Somalia has sought to assert control over its member states, which security analysts said has created gaps for al-Shabaab infiltration. Last week, two Somalian soldiers were killed in clashes between pro-government forces and
Ten cheetah cubs held in captivity since birth and destined for international wildlife trade markets have been rescued in Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia. They were all in stable condition despite all of them having been undernourished and limping due to being tied in captivity for months, said Laurie Marker, founder of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, which is caring for the cubs. One eight-month-old cub was unable to walk after been tied up for six months, while a five-month-old was “very malnourished [a bag of bones], with sores all over her body and full of botfly maggots which are under the
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
RSS