LRA force mother to kill her children

Jan 14, 2009

SOUTH Sudan residents in the Western Equatorial state have told heart-rending ordeals of their encounters with LRA rebels who have forced them to kill their children and siblings or face death. A woman, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, expla

By Henry Mukasa

SOUTH Sudan residents in the Western Equatorial state have told heart-rending ordeals of their encounters with LRA rebels who have forced them to kill their children and siblings or face death. A woman, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, explained how she lost her two children.

“They appeared in my compound carrying pangas and pieces of woods on December 29, 2008. It was around 8:00pm. They found me with my two children. They gave me a big piece of wood and told me to kill my children.

“I killed one at gunpoint. It was very painful. Instead of killing my second child, I hit one LRA bandit and another one immediately killed my child. I made an alarm and they ran away,” the woman narrated in an article published by the Sudan Tribune.

“LRA have come to kill us. They are killing women and children who would be the future generation. We are finished,” she screamed.

The LRA are believed to be running short of ammunition, so they have resorted to using pangas to kill people.
The UPDF is leading a joint military offensive which comprises of the Congolese army and the SPLA of South Sudan to rout the LRA rebels from their two-year hideouts in Garamba National Park in the DRC.

The operation code-named Lightning Thunder, is commanded by Brig. Patrick Kankiriho. It was launched on December 14, 2008 after the LRA leader, Joseph Kony, failed to sign the final peace agreement negotiated in Juba, Sudan.

The Central African Republic (CAR) has also joined the allies. “The president has agreed to support the Ugandan army in the campaign it is waging against Joseph Kony’s rebels,” defence minister, Jean Francis Bozize said.

The Congolese government has commended CAR for its decision.
In neighbouring DR Congo, the UNHCR estimates that 537 people have been killed in Oriental Province since September. Another 408 people have been kidnapped by the rebels and more than 104,000 displaced.

“The displaced population is in dire need of food, shelter, medicines, clothes and other aid items. The area, which by itself poses immense logistical challenges due to the lack of roads or their poor condition, remains highly volatile,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said in a statement in Geneva.

Meanwhile, the UN special envoy to the LRA-affected areas, former Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, said on Monday an LRA delegation had delivered a letter to him from Kony at the weekend.

“They briefed me about the situation on the ground and their will for ceasefire and the way forward. They said they want to halt fighting,” Chissano added that he intended to resume contact with all parties to try to end the conflict.

The Sudan Tribune reported that the LRA attacked Mboroko sub-county, two miles south of Maridi town, killing 40 people including two prominent local chiefs, women and children. They also abducted many people.

The Sultan of Maridi county, James Samuel Murangi, said his people had fled to Maridi town and needed food.
Murangi was on January 7, speaking to a delegation led by Western Equatorial state deputy governor, Col. Joseph Ngere.

In a separate attack in Mundri west county between January 1 and 9, the LRA abducted 13 people and burned houses.

On January 7, they attacked Bangolo, where they killed a police sergeant in charge of Bangolo police station
They also killed three other people, abducted 10 and looted shops including medicines from Bangolo health centre.
Nearly 7,000 people have been displaced to Mundri West County town.

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