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Rebels abduct 20 in northern Uganda

[DRC] An assortment of weapons surrendered by militiamen during a disarmament exercise in Aru tow, Ituri District, eastern DRC. Knalidi Somerson/MONUC
Weapons surrendered during a disarmament exercise in Ituri. The conflict claimed 60,000 civilian lives
    BUNIA

    Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) abducted 20 people in a village in Kitgum, northern Uganda, on Tuesday night, barely a day after President Yoweri Museveni's tour of the area. Media sources in the area told IRIN on Thursday army officers were in pursuit of the rebels who they said may have crossed over to neighbouring Sudan. "When the number is that big, if caught, they can use the abductees as human shields," the media source
    said. Analysts say the attack could be a way of the rebels letting the government know they "still exist" and have not "changed their stand". An LRA spokesman told the BBC the group believed Museveni was not genuine in his recent amnesty offer. "This is not surprising," presidential adviser John Nagenda told IRIN. "It just shows the kind of people the LRA are.
    They are killing, maiming and abducting their own people."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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