Email
Print
Save
By Richard Ruati
January 28, 2011 (GANGURA) – Ugandan rebels, the Lord’s Resistance Army have killed two villagers and abducted one villager just miles away from Yambio the capital of Western Equatoria state on Friday morning, just over two weeks after the peaceful conduct of a referendum on the independence of southern Sudan, according to local officials.
Fighters from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are said to have entered the village of Gangura during on Friday morning .
The commissioner of Yambio County, Angelo Bakote, has condemned the atrocities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the attack on the village of Gangura.
On Friday morning Guido Mboringamote and his son Luka Guido at Asanza locality were killed by the across Uze stream, seven miles from Yambio, while a boy was abducted by the same stream two miles from Yambio later the same day.
Sudan Tribune has learnt that Guido Mboringamote was shot in the shoulder before he called for his son to get him his gun. His son was then shot in the forehead by the rebels.
Bakote said, he has reported the incident African Union Aambassador Nakaha Stanislas who was visiting Yambio on Friday.
The rebels, who have carried out one of Africa’s longest running guerilla wars, fled into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after being driven out of Uganda and Sudan. However, the LRA have continued to attack civilians in Western Equatoria, which borders DRC.
The LRA are notorious for mutilating their victims and kidnapping children for use as sex slaves and child soldiers.
In an interview with Sudan Tribune, the paramount chief of Yambio County Wilson Peni said, he got the report in the evening that “the LRA appeared in the evening and abducted one boy across Uze stream two miles away from Yambio town.”
He added that “the deceased were killed in their home as LRA rebels were escaping heavy fighting” from an engagement with local vigilante movement - the Arrow Boys – who serve as community guards against the atrocities of the LRA.
The group which was formed to backup security forces has been welcomed by communities in the region and have been endorsed by the state government, who have provided them with weapons. The group had devised its name from their reliance on arrow’s as well as small arms to fight the LRA when they were first established.
Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly has approved a five million Sudanese Pounds to facilitate the activities of the Arrow Boys. But the money has not been released. Legislators had hoped for funds from the US administration of President Barak Obama to root out LRA rebels in the Great Lakes region.
The Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), the army of Southern Sudan, in collaboration with the Arrow Boys have been pursuing the rebels in the thick and dense forests of Western Equatoria.
Uganda, DRC and Sudan launched a joint assault on LRA bases in Congo’s isolated Garamba National Park on December 14, 2008 after the rebel’s leader, Joseph Kony, failed to sign a peace deal to end his rebellion against the Ugandan government.
Western Equatoria state has suffered in the hands of the notorious LRA since 2005, where the population is living in a situation of insecurity with thousands displaced from their homes.
During the Southern independence referendum, agreed as part of a 2005 peace deal with the north, there were no reports of LRA attacks. Friday’s incident is the first to follow the referendum.
As a result of LRA’s conflict, villagers in Western Equatoria have continued to face a humanitarian crisis. Earlier this week, the state’s Governor Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro summoned aid agencies to his office to head up humanitarian assistance to those displaced by the conflict.
(ST)
Latest Comments & Analysis
Is UNSC only legitimate to Sudan in complaint times? 2012-05-20 01:45:00 By Zechariah Manyok Biar May 19, 2012 — Sudanese leaders seem to think they are smarter than anybody else in this world. They seem to recognize the legitimacy of the United Nations Security (...)
Sudan’s NCP, an obstacle to peaceful co-existence 2012-05-20 01:30:00 By Jacob K. Lupai May 19, 2012 — Peaceful co-existence is what is expected of people the world over in promoting security. Nevertheless, how does peaceful co-existence come about? There are many (...)
On the African Union road map and UN resolution 2046 2012-05-20 01:00:00 By Gamal Adam My 18, 2012 — The African Union’s recent road map which the United Nations Security Council has endorsed with the Resolution 2046 includes a clause that puts pressure on the Sudan (...)
MORE