Mao raps army over Gulu bomb

By Denis Ojwee Norbert Mao, the Member of Parliament for Gulu Municipality, yesterday blamed the UPDF 4th Division in Gulu for the LRA rebel grenade attack on a disco in the town on Independence Day. Three revellers were killed on the spot. Mao said the UPDF should have stepped up security in the municipality where hundreds of people gathered to celebrate. He said the Opit Travellers Inn disco hall was only a stone throw away from Gulu's UCB branch, where the UPDF and the Police are deployed. "This must be a shameful experience to the UPDF and the Police. None of them retaliated to the LRA attack," Mao said. He said the LRA rebels should stop killing the unarmed people. Mao was yesterday speaking on Radio Freedom, Gulu. He sent condolences to the bereaved families. Col. Sam Kawagga, 4th Division commander, said Mao always blames the UPDF for any rebel attack in the district. He said the UPDF was pursuing the rebels. Kawagga said four rebels lobbed the grenade into the dancers. He said they could not easily be identified and intercepted by the army. Army spokesman Maj. Phinehas Katirima yesterday said the attack was an unfortunate tragedy. He said the LRA attacks soft targets. He urged the rebels to take advantage of the amnesty and come out of the bush. "It is very difficult and would be too much for the public to demand to be protected everywhere by the UPDF," he said. The death toll from the grenade has risen to four, bringing to 12, the number of people killed during the 38th Independence Day celebrations in Gulu. The bomb was lobbed into the revellers shortly after midnight by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army rebels. Marshall Odur, the northern regional Police commander, said on Wednesday that more victims were still in critical condition in Lacor and Gulu hospitals where they were rushed after the attack on October 9. The rebels also killed four revellers at Customs Corner in Gulu.