LRA kill 11, abduct 27 in south Sudan

By Vision reporter

LORD'S Resistance Army rebels have killed 11 people, including seven SPLA soldiers, and abducted 27 others in a South Sudanese town near the border with the Central African Republic, according to local authorities.

On February 19, just hours after the LRA delegation in Juba signed an additional agreement on accountability and reconciliation, a group of about 400 LRA attacked Source Yubu in Western Equatoria.

“They came from the Central African Republic and attacked the town at around 5:00am,” Joseph Ngere, the deputy governor of Western Equatoria, told The New Vision on satellite phone yesterday.

“They killed the Ayam administrator, Angelo Pio, along with three other civilians and seven SPLA soldiers. They then looted the town and abducted 27 men, women and children. They have not come back.”

According to Ngere, who visited the scene on Saturday, 70 houses were burnt down in the raid and the entire trading centre was looted.

The SPLA repulsed the rebels after a one-hour fight, in which one LRA soldier was killed, he added. “I saw the body but it was unrecognisable. People were very angry and they tried to burn it.”

He believed this was the incident the LRA was referring to when they walked out of the Juba talks last week, claiming their fighters had been attacked and killed by the Ugandan army.

“This was a total lie. They attacked our people. They killed our people. There is not one Ugandan soldier in Western Equatoria. I have learned that the LRA leaders never tell the truth.”

Asked how they knew the attackers were LRA rebels, Ngere said they spoke Luo, were wearing dreadlocks and carried different weapons from the local groups.

“We know them because they have been living with us for the last three years. We know their pattern of attacks, they kill and abduct. They were heavily armed and carried rocket- launchers.”
The deputy governor is furious about the continued LRA attacks.

“It is uncalled for for the LRA to attack our people while we are mediating their peace talks, giving them food, security and protection. How can you attack the people who accommodate you?” he asked.

“If the LRA continue to turn their guns against us, we want them out of South Sudan.”

Earlier, on their way to the Central African Republic, the LRA also killed a village chief called Albert Galassanga, according to authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“They killed a village chief near Duruma. They also kidnapped some people but I don’t have the details,” said Leonard Bwilu, the administrator of Dungu.
The village chief reportedly tried to rescue two abducted women.

The new attacks are casting doubt over the seriousness of the LRA in the Juba peace negotiations, which had been progressing fast in the past week.