Kony Hits Bus On Karuma Rd

By Albert Ayiga Ondoga, dennis ojwee & c. Odongtho KONY’S Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels on Monday ambushed a Kampala-Koboko-bound bus on Karuma-Pakwach Road, injuring 13 people, three of them seriously.The Nile Coach bus 575 UED was ambushed between Agung and Ayago bridge, about 30km from Karuma, by the rebels who showered it with bullets from behind. The bus driver, Issa Bwete, drove through the rain of bullets.Security source said the spot is about 30km from Karuma bridge and 70km from Pakwach town in Nebbi district.Nebbi district Police chief Samson Onyai said, “The ambush occurred at around 9:00am around Ayago brigade. The rebels opened fire from the rear which enabled the driver to drive on up to Pakwach with the injured people.”Nile Coach Kampala manager Alick Mawa said there were about 40 passengers on board heading for Koboko. “We had about 40 people on the bus because it was not fully booked,” Mawa said.Onyaai said the injured passengers were admitted to Pakwach Health Centre.A Police officer at Pakwach, Aziz Buatre, identified the victims as Mama Kawezi, 50, of Arua town. He was seriously injured in the face, Musa Abdala, 40, of Yumbe, Moses Ojandu, 28, of Arua had a bullet wound on the back, Lona Maringa, 40, of Koboko, Fred Aroga, 20, of Koboko, Tritria Binia, 50, a Sudanese resident in Arua and Francis Mugisha, 32, of Nsambya in Kampala.Others were Godfrey Benson Oluwo, 27, of Arua, Elizabeth Deng, 37, who had a nine-month old child and her husband Benjamin Akol, all Sudanese in Koboko.Also injured were Abdu Kiwanuka, 30, a Nile Coach bus company driver, Charles Wilson, 46, of Kampala and Zura Kadija, 40, a Sudanese who was shot in the jaws.Buatre said Zura was injured critically. He said the injured were given first aid at Pakwach Health Centre before they proceeded on the same bus to Arua town.The rebels early this month, also ambushed and burnt a Fuso lorry near the same spot. The lorry was carrying cassava from Mbale to Arua and the eight passengers escaped unhurt.The army has been heavily deployed on the road to protect travellers, especially tourists, going to Murchison Game Park and Paraa Safari Lodge.Nebbi Woman MP Betty Udongo Pacutho said, “I condemn the ambush. I appeal to the Government to add more UPDF soldiers along the road especially armoured patrol vehicles.State minister for public service Patrick Okumu Ringa said, “It’s a terrible incident on our road. I can’t believe it.” Meanwhile, the rebels in the afernoon burnt three trucks heading to Arua at the same spot.The vehicles were a Tata lorry and two semi-trailers belonging to Nileply company based in Jinja.Security sources in Nebbi said the fate of the occupants of the vehicles were not yet knownThe driver of another Nileply vehicle, Kuya, who drove through the same route after the attack, said, “We saw our vehicles burning by the roadside. The UPDF had cordoned off the area.” The trailers were carrying cement while the lorry had beer. Witnesses arriving in Arua said, “When we were passing, we saw soldiers struggling to remove some of the unburnt cement and beers.Ends