Rebels kill 12 in Lira district

Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels bludgeoned to death 12 people in the northern Lira district on Tuesday, including nine abducted children they were moving with in the area, army sources said.

The attacks follow intense LRA operations in Lira last week in which up to 100 people were reported to have been killed, forcing some 300,000 to flee their homes.

"This latest attack happened about 10 km from Lira town towards Kitgum," army spokesman Maj. Shaban Bantariza told IRIN. "They came and killed three local youths and then turned their weapons on the nine abductees they had captive. All were killed by bashing them to death."

Bantariza said the army did not have enough local defence forces to prevent all the attacks in Lira. "We have enough mobile forces but we need more zonal forces to counteract the threat," he stressed.

But he added that the army had stepped up security in the area. The latest LRA killings come as local government officials are reported to be overwhelmed by the massive increase in displaced people since the rebel group stepped up its campaign.

The mayor of Lira town, Peter Owiny, was quoted in the state-owned 'New Vision' daily as saying, "the influx [of displaced people] is beyond our control. We cannot offer them basic requirements like food, medical care or shelter".

Army sources say some pockets of LRA rebels are trapped in Lira, the corridor between Kitgum and Teso in the east, and are taking out their wrath on the civilian population.