KONY AMBUSH KILLS MAJOR

By DENNIS OJWEE AND W. O’BOIA UPDF commander, Major Issa Ssessanga and his two escorts were Saturday killed in an ambush at Porogali, in Acholibur sub county, Pader District along Gulu Lira road.Security reports confirmed Ssessanga was killed on Saturday morning together with his escorts, one identified as Opoka when their vehicle was ambushed by about 60 LRA rebels.The spokesperson UPDF 4th Division, Lt. Paddy Ankunda confirmed the ambush and the killing of the UPDF officer. He said Ssessanga was travelling from Pader District headquarters in a military Land Rover to attend a security meeting with the army commander, Maj. Gen. James Kazini and other officers in Gulu barracks that very Saturday.Witnesses said the three soldiers died on the spot when the rebels opened fire on the Land Rover that was behind a UPDF Isuzu lorry, on routine patrol on that road. They were heading to Pader. Also injured were three UPDF soldiers who were travelling in the same vehicle. They are admitted at the Good Samaritan Clinic in Pajule.The UPDF at Porogali detachment which is about 3km from the scene rushed to the scene to rescue the situation.Vehicles travelling to and from Kitgum were stopped for a couple of hours as the Army assessed the security situation.This now brings to 29 the number of UPDF soldiers so far killed by LRA rebels in separate attacks on people’s displaced camps and UPDF detachments and in separate road ambushes in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader from June 9 to July 8.About 23 UPDF soldiers have so far been killed during LRA attacks on camps and military detachments. The camps include Marawobi where two soldiers were killed, Anaka where two were killed, Purongo where one was killed, Chwero were one was killed, Awach where two were killed, Alero where one was killed and Labongo-Ogali where two were killed. All this in Gulu district. Patongo where ten soldiers were killed, Laceko-Ocot where one was killed, both in Pader district.While in road ambushes, six soldiers have so far been killed in which two were at Pajule and one at Angagura, both in Pader District. Three were killed at Alero in Gulu last Tuesday.One policeman has also been killed in a road ambush at Paicho, about 18 miles along Gulu-Kitgum road about a fortnight ago in which the RPC Northern Marshall Odur and five policemen and civilians were seriously hurt by RPG fire.Lt Ankunda said, “It is a very unfortunate ambush that has killed the UPDF commander (Ssessanga) but of course in the struggle to bring peace one has to sacrifice his life including the armed forces. There was therefore nothing the officer could have done rather to risk his life and his escorts.”The spokesman also said that in a security meeting held on Saturday in Gulu barracks comprising army officers, Gulu RDC and other district officials, it was decided that the displaced persons remain within the camps while security is beefed up against LRA attacks. He said the rebels were ordering civilians to vacate the camps into their dilapidated villages so that they (LRA) can abduct them and also use the civilians as their shield against the army. Ends