Mob flogs dead LRA commander
Jan 21, 2005
ANGRY residents of Awach sub-county in Gulu district on Wednesday flogged the body of an LRA rebel commander whom the UPDF killed in an ambush and displayed it to the public
ANGRY residents of Awach sub-county in Gulu district on Wednesday flogged the body of an LRA rebel commander whom the UPDF killed in an ambush and displayed it to the public, reports Chris Ochowun.
The mob that the UPDF failed to control descended upon the body of Lt. Nyeko Biswize and caned it with big logs and sticks.
Northern army spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda said Nyeko Biswize was killed by the UPDF in Awach sub-county, 30km north of Gulu town.
“The LRA commander was killed when they entered our ambush after their attempt to attack Awach internally displaced people’s camp,†Ankunda said.
Eyewitnesses said the residents overwhelmed UPDF soldiers who tried to stop them from flogging the dead rebel.
Ankunda appealed to the LRA commanders to stop killing civilians if they did not want their bodies flogged.
The LRA rebels are notorious for brutal acts such as cutting off the limbs of their victims. They have also displaced hundreds of unarmed civilians over the last 19 years. The US categorises them as terrorists.
Ankunda said the rebels were trying hard to attack the displaced people’s camps to loot food, kill and abduct civilians.
He, however, said the army had deployed at all the camps to foil the attacks.
The Government and the rebels are engaged in painstaking negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Despite the failure to clinch a deal at the last minute earlier this month, chief mediator Betty Bigombe remains upbeat. She has been meeting the rebels in the jungles of the the north to pave way for fullscale talks with the Government.
Meanwhile, a UPDF helicopter gunship on Wednesday crash-landed at Pabbo displced people’s camp.
The army said the plane had developed mechanical problems before it made the unscheduled landing at 4:00pm. It said the plane was returning from attacking rebels at Palukere in Atyak sub-county.
No one died or was injured. UPDF 4th Division commander Col. Nathan Mugisha dismissed earlier reports that three people died in the crash.
In a related development, nine LRA rebels were killed and 10 guns recovered during a UPDF offensive against them in Kitgum and Pader yesterday morning, reports Dennis Ojwee in Gulu.
The overall military intelligence chief in the north, Col. Charles Otema-Awany said yesterday the UPDF killed three fighters in Palabek, Lamwo county, north of Kitgum town.
He said in another clash in Agago, north of Pader, the army killed six rebels and seized four guns.
The mob that the UPDF failed to control descended upon the body of Lt. Nyeko Biswize and caned it with big logs and sticks.
Northern army spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda said Nyeko Biswize was killed by the UPDF in Awach sub-county, 30km north of Gulu town.
“The LRA commander was killed when they entered our ambush after their attempt to attack Awach internally displaced people’s camp,†Ankunda said.
Eyewitnesses said the residents overwhelmed UPDF soldiers who tried to stop them from flogging the dead rebel.
Ankunda appealed to the LRA commanders to stop killing civilians if they did not want their bodies flogged.
The LRA rebels are notorious for brutal acts such as cutting off the limbs of their victims. They have also displaced hundreds of unarmed civilians over the last 19 years. The US categorises them as terrorists.
Ankunda said the rebels were trying hard to attack the displaced people’s camps to loot food, kill and abduct civilians.
He, however, said the army had deployed at all the camps to foil the attacks.
The Government and the rebels are engaged in painstaking negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Despite the failure to clinch a deal at the last minute earlier this month, chief mediator Betty Bigombe remains upbeat. She has been meeting the rebels in the jungles of the the north to pave way for fullscale talks with the Government.
Meanwhile, a UPDF helicopter gunship on Wednesday crash-landed at Pabbo displced people’s camp.
The army said the plane had developed mechanical problems before it made the unscheduled landing at 4:00pm. It said the plane was returning from attacking rebels at Palukere in Atyak sub-county.
No one died or was injured. UPDF 4th Division commander Col. Nathan Mugisha dismissed earlier reports that three people died in the crash.
In a related development, nine LRA rebels were killed and 10 guns recovered during a UPDF offensive against them in Kitgum and Pader yesterday morning, reports Dennis Ojwee in Gulu.
The overall military intelligence chief in the north, Col. Charles Otema-Awany said yesterday the UPDF killed three fighters in Palabek, Lamwo county, north of Kitgum town.
He said in another clash in Agago, north of Pader, the army killed six rebels and seized four guns.