Army says over 850 abductees rescued from LRA rebels

The Ugandan army says it has rescued 876 abductees from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the past two months. Speaking at the defence ministry headquarters in Bombo, 50 km from Kampala, on Friday, Chief of Military Intelligence Colonel Noble Mayombo said the abductees were rescued between 4 July and 5 September, at a time when the LRA was under increasing pressure from Uganda’s armed forces and associated local pro-government militia groups. In addition, “70 LRA fighters surrendered to the army during the past two months, 186 LRA fighters were killed and 27 captured in various battles across the traditional area of operation in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, and Lira", Mayombo said. Mayombo and Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi said the recent successes were partly due to support from the local population in the newly-targeted eastern Teso region of Uganda. “The UPDF [Uganda People’s Defence Forces] has enjoyed a great deal of support,” Mbabazi said. Referring to the local “Arrow Group” militia in Teso, Mbabazi added: “We are arming them, we are training them and they are under full UPDF control.” “Improving coordination and timely processing of intelligence information offered by the population has contributed greatly to recent successes,” Mayombo said. The ministry blamed "inadequate funding" for the "slowness of UPDF response" in containing the rebels. “Lack of aircrafts to airlift infantry and generally poor cross country transport hampers our ability to respond quickly,” said Garinse Musoke, permanent secretary in the defence ministry. “Our command coordination and control is greatly hampered by inadequate communication equipment,” Musoke added. The ministry also defended its use of helicopters which has come under criticism for harming civilians. “We use helicopters because the enemy is avoiding engagements with our ground forces,” Mayombo said. “They spend much of the time running away from us, so we use our air power to chase them.”