LRA murder four Ugandans in Juba
Dec 14, 2006
The bodies of four men have been found near the scene of an ambush on the Torit-Juba road in South Sudan, the UPDF said yesterday.
By Vision reporter
The bodies of four men have been found near the scene of an ambush on the Torit-Juba road in South Sudan, the UPDF said yesterday.
“We discovered four bodies,†UPDF spokesperson Maj. Felix Kulayigye announced. “Their heads had been smashed. We believe the attackers were LRA. We are still pursuing them.â€
On Tuesday, two ambushes were carried out along the crucial trade route linking Uganda to the provincial capital Juba, involving three lorries with Ugandan number plates. The trucks were found looted and burned out, while their passengers had vanished.
However, the LRA denied responsibility. “It is not true,†the spokesman for the LRA team, Obonyo Olweny, told The New Vision.
“Those are rogue elements within the UPDF carrying out the attacks to blame them on LRA. Even the ambushes near Juba, in which 40 people were killed, was blamed on the LRA, but it was later found out they were done by some other forces.â€
The government chief negotiator has condemned the attack. “We condemn these atrocities leading to loss of life and disruption of trade,†Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, who had just arrived in Juba, said.
“It is a sad incident at a time when we are in the middle of the peace talks. It is an additional reason for expeditiously concluding the peace agreement so that normalcy returns to northern Uganda and southern Sudan for security and trade transactions.â€
The peace talks, brokered by the government of South Sudan, are due to resume today as both teams arrived in Juba yesterday.
The bodies of four men have been found near the scene of an ambush on the Torit-Juba road in South Sudan, the UPDF said yesterday.
“We discovered four bodies,†UPDF spokesperson Maj. Felix Kulayigye announced. “Their heads had been smashed. We believe the attackers were LRA. We are still pursuing them.â€
On Tuesday, two ambushes were carried out along the crucial trade route linking Uganda to the provincial capital Juba, involving three lorries with Ugandan number plates. The trucks were found looted and burned out, while their passengers had vanished.
However, the LRA denied responsibility. “It is not true,†the spokesman for the LRA team, Obonyo Olweny, told The New Vision.
“Those are rogue elements within the UPDF carrying out the attacks to blame them on LRA. Even the ambushes near Juba, in which 40 people were killed, was blamed on the LRA, but it was later found out they were done by some other forces.â€
The government chief negotiator has condemned the attack. “We condemn these atrocities leading to loss of life and disruption of trade,†Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda, who had just arrived in Juba, said.
“It is a sad incident at a time when we are in the middle of the peace talks. It is an additional reason for expeditiously concluding the peace agreement so that normalcy returns to northern Uganda and southern Sudan for security and trade transactions.â€
The peace talks, brokered by the government of South Sudan, are due to resume today as both teams arrived in Juba yesterday.