Ugandan rebels kill over 100 in southern Sudan

KAMPALA, July 08, 2004 (Xinhua) — Uganda’s main rebel group the Lord’ s Resistance Army (LRA) have massacred 122 Sudanese and displaced over 4,000 during raids on villages in southern Sudan, the New Vision newspaper reported on Thursday.

The Equatoria Defense Forces (EDF), a militia group allied to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), said in a statement issued on Wednesday that the LRA raided villages at Gangala near the Sudan’s government garrison position of Jebel Mille, which took place from June 25 to 27.

EDF Secretary General Charles Barnaba Kisanga said the LRA also attacked Jebel Guttni and Kor Englizi, overrunning and burning villages and looting property, and it lost seven soldiers with three wounded after clashes with the EDF.

The statement said the LRA killed 47 people in Lyangari, 25 in Lowai, one in Longairo, 25 in Moti, 15 in Lolyanga and nine in Logire village, adding “the total number of civilians who lost their lives in the LRA rampage stands at 122.”

The LRA rebels, based in southern Sudan, have fought the Ugandan government in the last 18 years, displacing over 1.6 northern Ugandans.