Six killed in rebel attack on NGO vehicle

Six people were killed and two seriously injured on Saturday when a group of suspected Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels ambushed an aid vehicle in northern Uganda. Gunmen attacked a Catholic Relief Services (CRS) vehicle five kilometres from the Sudanese border on the Bibia-Adjumani road, killing one Sudanese CRS employee and five fellow nationals, Ugandan army spokesman Lt-Col Phineas Katirima said on Monday. CRS Uganda Country Director Paul Townsend told IRIN that the vehicle was traveling to Adjumani to pick up a CRS staff member at 8.30 am on Saturday when it was attacked by a group of armed men. The attackers then burned the vehicle and fled, he said. Townsend confirmed that five people had died in the attack, and said six others were taken to hospital in Gulu town, where one victim subsequently died of his injuries. Katirima said he strongly suspected that the attackers were from the LRA. “They always target helpless people and never attack army units. It is consistent with their character,” he said. Although the UPDF was deploying forces to guard against rebel attacks in the north, it did not have the resources to “defend every inch of ground”, he added. The LRA, led by self-styled mystic Joseph Kony, has been fighting a guerilla-style war against Ugandan government forces - and the people of northern Uganda - in the north of the country since the late 1980s. The militia frequently attacks the government’s “protected villages” for internally displaced people (IDPs), looting goods and abducting people to serve as fighters. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that the LRA usually did not bother to steal vehicles as they would be unable to travel past Uganda People’s Defence Forces (Ugandan army) security checks on the road. The rebels tended to attack vehicles, loot them and abduct or kill the passengers, before fleeing into the bush, sources said. Saturday’s ambush was the second serious attack in northern Uganda which has attributed to the LRA in under a week. On 27 August, gunmen attacked a bus on the Gulu to Atiak road, killing five people and injuring 12 others. Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS), a Catholic NGO, stated in a situation report on Friday that the attack was the first serious incident of suspected LRA activity in several months. “Most of us have been lulled into a sense of calm assuming the situation in the north has been coming under control,” said JRS director Brother Mike Foley. Recent reconciliation efforts between the governments of Sudan and Uganda, following from the Nairobi peace agreement signed in 1999, have removed much of Kony’s support in Sudan and weakened the LRA. Sudanese President Hasan al-Bashir said last month that Khartoum had provided the LRA with ammunition and logistical assistance in the past, but that the rebel group was now outside government-controlled territory and outside its influence in the south of the country. Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma’il said on 27 August - following reported clashes between the Sudanese army and the LRA, which was seeking to recapture escaped abductees - that Sudanese government forces would challenge any LRA military operations on Sudanese territory. “Sudan will not tolerate any casualties in the ranks of the Sudanese army or among the civilian population,” he added. LRA units have also carried out a number of attacks on villages in Eastern Equatoria State, south Sudan, according to media reports. The ‘Khartoum Monitor’ reported on Sunday that LRA members had overrun communities in Imatong Province because they were in desperate need of food and clothing. Some analysts have suggested that the withdrawal of support by the rebels’ traditional sponsor, Sudan, was forcing the rebels to increase their raiding and looting in order to secure arms, food and other resources. Katirima told IRIN that the LRA ambushes were “futile” and that the rebels would soon be defeated. “They won’t gain any support by committing atrocities like this one,” he added. As part of recent efforts to bring an end to the LRA’s insurgency, the Ugandan government has offered an amnesty to all present and former rebels. However, Katirima said that rebel soldiers would only be eligible for the amnesty if they peacefully surrendered. “If we capture them while fighting they will pay. One of these days we will catch up with them and we will kill them,” he added. Meanwhile, the recent increase in suspected LRA activity has raised fears that humanitarian agencies working in the area may be forced to pull out. Senior humanitarian affairs adviser for UNOCHA (Uganda), Michael Jones, told IRIN that an upsurge in rebel activities could have serious implications for aid agencies working in the area, and on the local population. “If insecurity continues like this, one of the very few agencies willing to work in that area, CRS, may leave,” he warned. Paul Townsend said that CRS would be re-evaluating the security situation in the area as a result of the attack. “This is an area where there have not really been any major attacks in the past, so we will have to review our security assessment,” he added.