HSBA LRA updates

Lord’s Resistance Army (08 March 2013)

Lord’s Resistance Army Update

The recent overthrow of the government of the Central African Republic (CAR), by a union of rebel groups operating under the name Seleka (‘Alliance’ in the local Sango language), has significantly altered military and political dynamics in the region, and will affect the anti-Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) operation carried out by the Ugandan army. The new regime in Bangui has not recognized bilateral agreements signed by the previous government and Kampala, including accords that allow Ugandan troops to pursue LRA fighters in CAR. Without rapid diplomatic action, this could force the Ugandan army and its American military advisers to withdraw, essentially bringing the push against the LRA in CAR to an end. This is potentially significant, as the bulk of the LRA is now CAR-based.

Military and government sources in Kampala say Ugandan troops in CAR have already fallen back to defensive positions at bases in the southeastern towns of Zemio, Djemah, and Obo. According to the Ugandan army political commissar, Colonel Felix Kulayigye, Ugandan troops will not engage in active operations against LRA forces until further notice. A group of US military advisers to the Ugandan army in CAR has also withdrawn from a base in Djemah, and regrouped in Obo. It is unclear whether the advisers are still providing support, including intelligence gathering and logistical aid.

The Ugandan army presence in CAR is formally part of a larger African Union (AU) force called the Re­gional Task Force (RTF). The RTF is the military wing of a political mission dealing with the LRA, the AU-led Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of the LRA (AU RCI-LRA). The bulk of the RTF, or about 1,200 soldiers, is made up of the existing Ugandan force, which acts independently of the AU RCI-LRA. So far, the AU has failed to make the mission operational despite an official launch in September 2012. A much-publicized transfer of 500 Congolese troops to the AU RCI-LRA on 15 February 2013 was in effect a relocation of Congolese forces from the southeast to the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The RTF commander, Ugandan Brigadier Dick Olum, has no command of or control over the Congolese troops.

AU diplomats have sought to provide political cover for Ugandan forces in CAR and, by extension, the US mission. After President Francois Bozizé’s overthrow, both the AU and Washington refused to recognize the new administration of Michel Djotodia, the leader of Seleka. In the first week of April 2013, however, the AU organized a series of meetings in Chad’s capital, N’Djamena, bringing leaders of many African countries together for emergency talks.

As the Ugandan authorities search for a legal reinforcement for their troops in CAR, officials in Kampala and the Sudanese capital Khartoum have been trading accusations about each other’s alleged support for rebel groups. According to Sudanese press reports, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abu-Bakr al-Sideeg said on 31 March 2013 that Uganda should stop backing rebel groups based in Darfur. He cited reports that the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudan Liberation Army signed an accord in Kampala in January, calling for efforts to topple Sudanese President Omar al Bashir.

Ugandan authorities deny the allegations, and have accused Khartoum of harbouring LRA leader Joseph Kony and his rebels. On 2 April, Uganda’s state minister for foreign cooperation, Asuman Kiyingi, told the pro-government daily New Vision: ‘Sudan has a guilty conscience because of its role in supporting Kony. I think because of the rebels fighting in the Central African Republic, Kony is going to get a new lease of life. They [Sudan] are trying to find a new excuse to give him [Kony] support.’

Ugandan Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa told New Vision earlier that, ‘Sudan has always supported LRA leader Joseph Kony, if they want to continue they will meet the same end of defeat. Uganda is not going to promote any groups against the government of Sudan.’ Sudanese authorities have always denied harbouring or otherwise supporting Kony.

News of the suspension of operations against the LRA in CAR was reportedly welcomed by Kony. According to former LRA combatants, Kony told his top commanders that soon they would not be harassed by the Ugandan army. It is unclear where Kony is at the moment but recent reports from former fighters and intelligence analysts suggest he was in CAR’s northern Vakaga prefecture at the end of March 2013.

A perhaps unrelated, but significant, trend has emerged recently with relatively large numbers of women and children escaping, or being allowed to leave, areas under LRA control. At the beginning of March 2013, 28 women and children came out of LRA zones in DRC. The women, mostly widowers, said they were told to go home as the LRA group commander could no longer care for them or their children. According to the women, this particular commander had lost touch with Kony and become isolated in a remote area of CAR for the last two years. Another nine people left CAR’s Haut Mbomou prefecture in the first two weeks of April. Two mothers and a young baby were rescued on the border with South Sudan’s Western Equatoria state, while six others emerged near Obo in CAR.

LRA attacks have continued in DRC and CAR, while there have been no reported attacks in South Sudan for more than a year. Most of the LRA-related violence in DRC is limited to attacks by small groups targeting civilians in order to secure food. Such incidents often take place north of Garamba National Park, towards the border with CAR.

In CAR, a particularly brutal assault was registered on 3 March 2013, north of Rafai. Nine people were killed in two separate incidents, and at least 10 people were abducted. Some of the victims were shot, which is unusual, as LRA fighters traditionally seek to save their ammunition. According to some eyewitnesses, the attackers were wearing insignia with the letters ‘SS’ on them, allegedly short for ‘Sécurité du Seigneur’ or ‘Security of the Lord’. If such reports prove to be true, it would likely mean that the attackers were not LRA fighters, as they do not wear such badges, and certainly not insignia bearing French abbreviations.

Updated 25 April 2013

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