Renewed LRA attacks raises fresh humanitarian concerns

A new spate of attacks over the past week by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda on villages, burning huts and abducting people, is producing a new wave of internal displacement and putting a strain on ongoing relief and development work in the region, according humanitarian sources. A humanitarian worker based in the northern town of Gulu told IRIN on Wednesday that "virtually all" NGOs had halted their operations in northern Uganda due to the rise in insecurity. According to this source, all roads linking the northern districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Lira and Pakwac have become unsafe due to increased rebel activity in the area in the past week, thereby limiting the movement of relief workers, with severe humanitarian implications. "The situation is very confusing. We don't know much about the numbers of the rebels moving around or what they intentions are. This is not a good sign," the source told IRIN. Recent press reports indicate an upsurge of attacks on northern Ugandan districts by part of a group of 400 LRA fighters believed to have recently slipped into Uganda from Sudan, where their leader, Joseph Kony, has remained with his main force, believed by the Ugandan army to number about 2,000. According to Pan African News Agency, the LRA on Sunday attacked a village in Pader District, abducting 45 people and burning down 45 shops and kiosks. The New Vision government-owned newspaper on Tuesday also reported an LRA attack in Lira District, in which a vehicle was burned and 14 people abducted. On Monday, the group attacked the Hilltop suburb of Kitgum town, killing four people and burning huts, The New Vision reported on Wednesday. Security sources within the Joint Command Centre said on Tuesday that about 25 rebels commanded by the LRA leader nicknamed Tabu Ley had entered the suburb from Okidi, seven miles southwest of Kitgum town, according to the paper. Shaban Bantariza, the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman, told IRIN on Wednesday that the group carrying out attacks in northern Uganda was a section of the 400 LRA fighters who had recently slipped back into Uganda from Sudan and then split into numerous smaller groups of between 25 and 30 with the aim of carrying out attacks throughout northern Uganda. The main group, led by Vincent Otti and Tabu Ley, took advantage of the sparse number of UPDF detachments in the area to launch new attacks, according to Bantariza, who added that the army was currently redeploying more detachments there. "They split into smaller groups with the aim of spreading out in northern Uganda. When they found less concentration of army detachments, they decided to start burning the places," Bantariza said. In March 2002, with the permission of Sudanese government, the UPDF began to pursue the LRA in southern Sudan. The operation, code-named Operation Iron Fist", which has driven the rebel group into the Imatong hills in southern Sudan, has faced severe criticism from church and peace groups opposed to a military solution to the conflict. The World Food Programme (WFP) said on Wednesday it was having difficulties distributing food to displaced populations in camps due to the current security situation. "We are currently assessing the security situation in collaboration with the Ugandan government. We hope to resume delivery of food soon, even as early as tomorrow [Thursday], depending on the situation on the ground," Selma Kalousek, WFP's public information officer in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told IRIN. The UK-based Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD), which carries out peace initiatives in northern Uganda, said it had temporarily suspended its field operations there, following the latest spate of attacks. Oscar Okech, the ACORD communications manager in Uganda, told IRIN on Wednesday that one of the attacks had taken place within 500 metres of the ACORD programme manager's house. "They [the rebels] are moving in small groups and are everywhere. Their movements are unpredictable. A vehicle was ambushed between Adjumani and Gulu," he said. The Ugandan media also reported on Wednesday that residents were fleeing camps set up by the army for internally displaced people in Gulu District, following the increased LRA attacks. The camps of Mutema and Oberabich in Amuru were abandoned, following the withdrawal of the UPDF from those areas on Sunday, according to the independent Monitor newspaper. "UPDF has left the people very vulnerable to rebel attacks; that is why most of them abandoned the camps," the paper quoted Bataringaya Opoka Odoch, the local council chairman, as saying. He said people had camped in Amuru trading centre, where there were a few soldiers left, according to the Monitor. However, UPDF Fourth Division Deputy Commander Col Francis Okello said he had not heard about the army's withdrawal from the camps. "This is still news to me. I am not aware of the UPDF withdrawal from these mentioned camps," the paper quoted him as saying. Bantariza said the new wave of LRA violence on northern villages was aimed at compelling residents to bring more pressure to bear on the Ugandan government. "This is just plain terrorism. They are terrorising everybody in the hope that the people will put pressure on the government," he said. Humanitarian sources said unconfirmed reports obtained from 100 recently released LRA captives indicated that the fighters who had re-entered Uganda had brought landmines and quantities of ammunition with them. It its latest travel advisory on Uganda, released on Tuesday, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office expressly categorised northern Uganda as being among the most dangerous areas for tourists, alongside areas along the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where a civil war is raging. "We advise against travel to Gulu, Kitgum, Apac and Lira districts," the advisory said.