LRA attacks in Central African Republic

Lord’s Resistance Army rebels killed over 10 people and kidnapped about 50 others in a village in the eastern Central African Republic (CAR) last weekend. The fatal attack took place in Agoumar, and there were smaller attacks in two nearby villages.

By Thijs Bouwknegt
Under the leadership of Joseph Kony, the self-proclaimed Christian guerrilla army launched an insurgency against Uganda’s government in 1986. Fighting continued in Northern Uganda for nearly two decades until the rebels were pushed into neighbouring countries in 2005.

Since then, the LRA has become a regional menace, terrorizing and killing countless civilians in eastern Congo, CAR and the border regions of Sudan. To date, the fighting has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced over 2 million people.

The LRA militants - who want to establish a theocratic rule in Uganda, based on the Ten Commandments - are notorious for abducting children and for brutal attacks against civilians, often hacking off their limbs, ears or lips. Kony and two of his lieutenants are wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.

Past attempts to ink a peace deal between the LRA and Kampala have failed, primarily because Kony insists that The Hague-based court first drop the case.
 
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