At least 23 civilians have been confirmed dead in an attack by Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels Kalabong Internally Displaced Persons (IDP), in Namokora sub-county, Chwa County in Kitgum district.
During the raid on Thursday, over 10 others seriously wounded by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels when they attacked The sources said the rebels also set ablaze the entire IDP camp including the ones of the LDU that was near the camp.
One LDU soldiers was also killed by the rebels and some of them, number not indicated Other reports however put the figure to 35. “The rebels attacked Kalo-Obong Internal Displaced People’s camp in Kitgum district towards midnight on Thursday, killed 35 people, and 10 others were admitted at Kitgum Hospital with injuries,” Farah Muktar, an official at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told AFP by telephone from Kitgum.
A Roman Catholic priest in Kitgum, Father Joseph Garnar, confirmed the attack.
“We have not gathered detailed information about the attack, but many people were hacked to death, while others were burnt in their huts,” Garnar said.
Medical sources form Kitgum government hospital yesterday confirmed that at least 10 people had been admitted with critical injuries by morning as a result of the LRA attack on the IDP camp.
The Commanding Officer of the UPDF fifth Division, Col. George Etyang said “by 4”00PM yesterday said he had not had not yet got the details. The figure however remained at either, 15, 20 and 23 by press time.
But at what I can say at the moment is that, the place attacked was not an official IDP camp in the district. What I had learnt was that the LRA had attacked a place called Corner-Parabongo, but not Kalabong. Anyway, we shall get the details when the commander who went on ground comes back from the scene”, Col. Etyang said.
. Local authorities yesterday said the rebels attacked the small IDP from the direction of Lipan Game Reserve in the northern side of the camp that host about 400 people.
The sources said the rebels struck the camp about at about 6:00PM on Thursday evening. Kalabong is about four Km from Namokora sub-county headquarters which is some 40 Km from Kitgum town.
The sources said the rebels were suspected to be splinter group that had been sent from Southern Sudan by LRA’s Charles Okot, estimated to between 80 and 100 fighters including abductees.
The Resident District Commisioner (RDC) of Kitgum, Lt. Santo Okot-Lapolo who is also the chairman of the security committee in the district said, “By Midday yesterday, a source from Namokora informed me that over 15 dead bodies had been found on spot and several other people injured during the LRA attack”.
The RDC also said Kalabong was not among the official camps in Kitgum. He said about 300 people had settled near a detachment of the army who had established there just for military strategy.
“The civilians there were told to camp at Namokora IDP camp where there is proper security deployment. Some of them went there in order to access their land”, the RDC said.
He said agroup of LRA rebels suspected to be either under Kony’s LRA commander, Charles Okot-Odiambo which could have recently re-entered Kitgum from Southern Sudan, or another one under the LRAs’ Acting army Commander, Raska Lukwiya
Kitgum LC 5 boss, Nahaman Ojwee also reiterated that “Actually, Kalabong was not an official camp registered in the district.
The people should have not been there. All of them should have camped in the main camp at Namokora, but due to the small security that was deployed in that area, part the people from Namokora IDP went and settled near the Local Defence Unit (LDU) that had established a small detachment there.
