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| N. Uganda's 18-year war edges to close |
| | www.chinaview.cn 2004-08-08 19:48:17 |
by Ssekandi
Ronald, Chen Cailin
KAMPALA, Aug. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Ugandan
President Yoweri Museveni announced Friday that the 18-year-old Lord's
Resistance Army (LRA)'s rebellion is coming to an end, following last week's
action in which the country's troops successfully razed the headquarters of
rebel leader Joseph Kony in southern Sudan.
Army sources
said that during the battle, Kony narrowly survived leaving behind his 4 wives
and 13 children.
The war in northern Uganda has been
characterized by atrocities against civilians, abductions of over 20,000
children, forced to serve as soldiers or wives of rebel commanders. The
rebellion has left tens of thousands of people killed and over 1.6 million
people displaced.
The insurgency has persisted for long
following various factors that have provided a fertile ground for the LRA to
continue their operations.
Sudan's support to the LRA
boosted the war in northern Uganda. This northern African country used to arm
and train the rebels in revenge of Uganda giving a safe haven to the Sudanese
People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The LRA thus used southern Sudan as their
training grounds to attack northern Uganda.
However, the
normalization of relations between the two countries is a heavy blow to the LRA.
The two countries signed a protocol two years ago, allowing Ugandan troops to
pursue the LRA in southern Sudan.
The Ugandan government
forces are registering a lot of success there with the most recent when the
headquarters of rebel leader Kony was attacked leaving over 120 rebels dead. In
this attack, the Ugandan troops were guided by the Sudanese troops indicating
that the Khartoum government is committed in finishing off the
LRA.
The recently signed peace agreement between the
Sudanese government and the SPLA is also a major deadlock to the LRA. In a
meeting held in Kampala in June, Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir
assured Ugandans that the peace deal is going to be the last nail in the coffin
of the LRA, adding that it will also mark the end of Joseph Kony. With the
Khartoum government coming to terms with the SPLA, there is no justification of
supporting the LRA.
In northern Uganda, the increased
military power of the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) has weakened the
LRA. The UPDF has deployed three divisions supported by thousands of local
militia men. On the contrary, the LRA whose number was about 1,000 two years ago
has reduced to less than 500 before the attacking of the LRA headquarters one
week ago.
The increased expenditure on defense has also
assisted the government in scaling down rebel activities in northern Uganda. The
UPDF has now acquired state-of-the-art military equipment to fight the rebels.
Museveni said on Friday that the high defense expenditure was one of the main
factors that has crushed the LRA.
This intensive pursuit by
the Ugandan troops has led to many top commanders of the LRA getting killed and
others surrendering. Statistics from the Ministry of Defense indicate that
between January 2003 and mid-January this year, the army rescued 7,387 abductees
and killed 986 rebels. A total of 824 rebels were captured or handed themselves
to the army.
In the last two months alone, 725 LRA rebels
were killed with 202 rebels defecting and reporting to the
UPDF.
The rate of abducting of children by the LRA has
greatly reduced with none being recorded in a day. Previously the rebels used to
abduct children in hundreds as a way of recruiting them into the
force.
Most LRA rebels have lost morale in fighting.
According to some of the ex-LRA commanders who were paraded before the press
recently, rebel leader Kony has no political agenda and the
spirits which
used to help him fight the government have deserted him.
The continued surrendering of top commanders and their fighters has also
weakened the rebels.
The UPDF has stepped up its discipline
in the battle field. Previously, some of its officials used to make blunders,
but now, such cases are not heard of. Those officers who make operational
blunders are prosecuted in the martial court and if found guilty, the maximum
sentence is capital punishment. This level of discipline has helped the
government forces to fight with one common goal of eliminating the
LRA.
The local population has also rallied behind the
government in fighting the rebels, rather than give support to the rebels like
before in form of money, food and medicine.
All these factors
have greatly reduced the rebel's insurgency in northern Uganda, prompting
observers to say that the gruesome 18-year rebellion is coming to an
end.
However, the government needs to enhance its efforts in finishing off some remnants of the LRA who are still destabilizing the northern part of the east African country. Enditem |
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