Inside Joseph Kony’s camp swahili
Dec 17, 2008
THE UPDF commandos on Tuesday evening matched into the deserted LRA camps in the Garamba jungles in north-east DR Congo that were bombarded by the airforce on Sunday.
By Henry Mukasa
THE UPDF commandos on Tuesday evening matched into the deserted LRA camps in the Garamba jungles in north-east DR Congo that were bombarded by the airforce on Sunday.
The Special Forces that were air-dropped five kilometres from the main camp called Camp Shahili, picked their way in the dense, swampy forest infested with wild animals.
Strewn in the camp were tents, bedding, farm tools, generators, shoes, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking utensils and posho and beans.
The commandos collected the items and burnt them.
No dead or injured were found, but the joint forces said indications were that the rebels suffered severe casualties.
For instance, the forces picked nine sub-machine guns, four anti-personnel mines and bombs in the camps that had 400 people.
The latest offensive, Operation Lightning Thunder, was jointly launched by Uganda, South Sudan and the DR Congo after the rebels thrice this year refused to sign the peace agreement in Juba.
Spokesperson Capt. Chris Magezi said yesterday the camps had large gardens of groundnuts, maize, rice, sunflower, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava and sim-sim. The soldiers started destroying the crops. Magezi said it would take a while to raze the gardens.
Child slaves abducted from the region had tended the gardens. The rebels also had fully-stocked granaries of posho and beans.
Magezi said the operation was “impressive†and likened it to the army’s victories at Birinyang and Jabuleni in South Sudan in 2005 during Operation Iron Fist. The rebels then were forced to flee to Garamba from where, he said, they had also been smoked out.
“The final cord of the LRA backbone has been broken,†Magezi said. “Without food, Kony will become a wanderer and it will be difficult for him to survive.â€
Magezi said the joint forces were still hunting Kony, his fighters and the non-combatants who fled into the jungles. He said the attack came shortly after Kony addressed a parade and left for a hunting spree.
“There’s evidence of casualties,†Magezi noted. “We suspect they carried away the injured.â€
The army yesterday named four Congolese girls it rescued as Jean Lavi Kitala, 16, Justive Atoloba, 14, Victoria Nakayobi, 11, and pregnant 17-year-old Horlanchar Minongote, who had been married off to rebel commander Abokero.
Commander Brig. Patrick Kankiriho received the youngsters at the tactical headquarters in Dungu, Congo, and gave them personal effects. “Imagine your daughter pregnant at this age!†Kankiriho remarked.
Asked about the fate of Kony, Kankiriho said the operation was not a cup of tea. “You attack, deploy, fight and count casualties.â€
But, he added, Kony’s end was near. “Kony will never stand and fight again. He has lost many people who fled in disarray and are scattered in the jungles. He is always the first to flee,†Kankiriho explained.
Kankiriho, the commander of the Mbale-based 3rd Division, is deputised by Col. Moses Rwakitarate, the Chief of Staff of the Airforce and Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba of the Special Forces Division.
Kankiriho commanded the disarmament programme against Karimojong warriors.
Yesterday, the forces continued searching for the rebels and dropping more leaflets to encourage scattered fighters and abductees to hand themselves in.
THE UPDF commandos on Tuesday evening matched into the deserted LRA camps in the Garamba jungles in north-east DR Congo that were bombarded by the airforce on Sunday.
The Special Forces that were air-dropped five kilometres from the main camp called Camp Shahili, picked their way in the dense, swampy forest infested with wild animals.
Strewn in the camp were tents, bedding, farm tools, generators, shoes, mattresses, blankets, mosquito nets, cooking utensils and posho and beans.
The commandos collected the items and burnt them.
No dead or injured were found, but the joint forces said indications were that the rebels suffered severe casualties.
For instance, the forces picked nine sub-machine guns, four anti-personnel mines and bombs in the camps that had 400 people.
The latest offensive, Operation Lightning Thunder, was jointly launched by Uganda, South Sudan and the DR Congo after the rebels thrice this year refused to sign the peace agreement in Juba.
Spokesperson Capt. Chris Magezi said yesterday the camps had large gardens of groundnuts, maize, rice, sunflower, sorghum, sweet potatoes, cassava and sim-sim. The soldiers started destroying the crops. Magezi said it would take a while to raze the gardens.
Child slaves abducted from the region had tended the gardens. The rebels also had fully-stocked granaries of posho and beans.
Magezi said the operation was “impressive†and likened it to the army’s victories at Birinyang and Jabuleni in South Sudan in 2005 during Operation Iron Fist. The rebels then were forced to flee to Garamba from where, he said, they had also been smoked out.
“The final cord of the LRA backbone has been broken,†Magezi said. “Without food, Kony will become a wanderer and it will be difficult for him to survive.â€
Magezi said the joint forces were still hunting Kony, his fighters and the non-combatants who fled into the jungles. He said the attack came shortly after Kony addressed a parade and left for a hunting spree.
“There’s evidence of casualties,†Magezi noted. “We suspect they carried away the injured.â€
The army yesterday named four Congolese girls it rescued as Jean Lavi Kitala, 16, Justive Atoloba, 14, Victoria Nakayobi, 11, and pregnant 17-year-old Horlanchar Minongote, who had been married off to rebel commander Abokero.
Commander Brig. Patrick Kankiriho received the youngsters at the tactical headquarters in Dungu, Congo, and gave them personal effects. “Imagine your daughter pregnant at this age!†Kankiriho remarked.
Asked about the fate of Kony, Kankiriho said the operation was not a cup of tea. “You attack, deploy, fight and count casualties.â€
But, he added, Kony’s end was near. “Kony will never stand and fight again. He has lost many people who fled in disarray and are scattered in the jungles. He is always the first to flee,†Kankiriho explained.
Kankiriho, the commander of the Mbale-based 3rd Division, is deputised by Col. Moses Rwakitarate, the Chief of Staff of the Airforce and Lt. Col. Muhoozi Kainerugaba of the Special Forces Division.
Kankiriho commanded the disarmament programme against Karimojong warriors.
Yesterday, the forces continued searching for the rebels and dropping more leaflets to encourage scattered fighters and abductees to hand themselves in.