Army forms special battalion for PRA

May 01, 2005

THE UPDF has created a special battalion in West Nile to deal with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) rebels.

By Chris Ochowun

THE UPDF has created a special battalion in West Nile to deal with the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) rebels.

Army commander Lt. Gen Aronda Nyakairima on Saturday passed out 850 local defence unit guards, who have been undergoing military training for over three months in Gulu district to prepare them to deal with the PRA.

The LDUs have now formed a battalion, the West Nile Task Force I, commanded by Maj. Robert Ocama. About 86 LDUs abandoned the training at Lugore. The UPDF 4th division commander, Col. Nathan Mugisha, said the trainees who fled with their guns should report back before the army steps in and action is taken against them.

Aronda, while passing out the LDUs who included nine women in a ceremony attended by several district leaders from Yumbe, Moyo and Arua districts, said the PRA was not a creation of the government as some opposition politicians were saying. He said exiled Forum for Democratic Change head, Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye was the PRA leader. But Besigye has denied the link.

“Since Operation Iron Fist started in 2002, we have been seeing elements of PRA in West Nile trying to coordinate with the LRA rebels across the River Nile,” Aronda said.

“In Ludara in Yumbe district, we captured some of them planning to use this part of the country as their base to attack the government. We also have the evidence in Rukungiri in western Uganda,” he said.

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