Rebels kidnapped villagers, looted food and torched homes in northeast DRC - UN
LONDON (AlertNet) - The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), headed by fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, has carried out a string of attacks in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo in recent weeks, according to the U.N. refugee agency.
The rebel leader, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, attracted massive attention this month after a video calling for his capture was posted on YouTube and endorsed by Hollywood celebrities including George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey.
Kony’s rebel army, which has terrorised communities in four African countries, is notorious for abducting tens of thousands of children to use as soldiers and sex slaves, and for killing and maiming civilians, hacking off limbs and slicing off lips, noses and ears.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said there had been 13 LRA attacks in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between March 6 and 25, mostly in the Dungu area.
UNHCR Congo representative Celine Schmitt told AlertNet witnesses had described how rebels had kidnapped villagers, looted food and set fire to homes. Two people were killed, 13 abducted and more than 1,160 displaced, according to the agency.
The attacks came as a U.S. advocacy group released a 30-minute video about Kony which quickly went viral. Kony2012 became a top trend on Twitter and has been seen more than 86 million times.
But UNHCR said it did not think there was any connection between the video and the latest violence.
It said the LRA had carried out 33 attacks in northeast DRC so far this year, forcing more than 4,000 people to flee their homes. There have also been reports of attacks in Bondo, close to the border with Central African Republic (CAR).
Kony’s army, which emerged in his native northern Uganda in the late 1980s, was ejected from Uganda in 2005. His fighters have since moved between CAR, DRC and South Sudan.
LRA assaults in these three countries have displaced an estimated 440,000 people, according to UNHCR.
Kony's fighters are also accused of carrying out 11 attacks in the southeast of CAR this year after a long lull. UNHCR described the situation there as “extremely fragile”.
The African Union announced last week it would launch a 5,000-strong force to hunt down Kony who was indicted back in 2005.
They will work with 100 U.S. military advisers President Barack Obama sent to the region last year, who are helping Ugandan forces search for the rebel leader in the dense forests of central Africa.
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
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