Uganda’s LRA rebels kill deminers in south Sudan
Oct 31, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Two deminers contracted to the United Nations in southern Sudan were killed in an ambush by suspected Ugandan rebels, prompting condemnation from UN envoy Jan Pronk.
The deminers were leading a three-vehicle convoy from the regional capital of Juba to the Ugandan border town of Nimule “when they were stopped by armed men, taken out of the truck and killed,” Pronk said in a statement.
Passengers in the two other vehicles were able to escape the ambush and take refuge in a Sudanese army base but two soldiers were also wounded.
Pronk said the two sappers worked for the Swiss Foundation for Mine Action, a demining organization contracted to the World Food Program, but did not specify their nationality.
Takuto Kubo, from the United Nations Mine Action Office, told AFP that one of the victims was Sudanese and the other a foreigner.
The NGO’s headquarters in Geneva confirmed the two deaths but said further information on the exact location of the incident and the identity of the victims was being withheld until next of kin were notified.
The attack was “allegedly perpetrated by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA),” a Ugandan rebel group that has been fighting the regime of President Yoweri Museveni from bases along the border for nearly 20 years, Pronk said.
Pronk expressed “his outrage at this cowardly attack that jeopardizes the UN and partners’ efforts in clearing vital roads to ensure the safety of returnees and pave the way for economic reconstruction of southern Sudan.”
Relief organizations active in southern Sudan have complained of an upsurge in LRA violence in recent weeks that saw two aid workers killed in attacks in northern Uganda last week.
The deaths prompted several aid groups to announce they were scaling down their operations in the region.
Uganda long accused the Khartoum regime of turning a blind eye to LRA rear bases on its territory but in recent years the two governments have signed a series of agreements designed to boost security cooperation.
In 2002, Sudan gave Uganda the right to pursue LRA rebels up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) inside its territory.
In early October, Khartoum gave the Ugandan army the right to operate throughout southern Sudan as long as its operations are coordinated with both the government and southern former rebels.
Ten months after the signing of a peace agreement that ended 21 years of deadly north-south conflict, mine clearing remains a major obstacle to the reconstruction of southern Sudan, an area twice the size of France.
Given the expected influx of refugees and internally-displaced people returning to their native villages after the rainy season, rapid demining is crucial but residual violence and lack of funding have hampered the work of specialised agencies and NGOs.
The UN’s mine programme has recorded 67 casualties from mine explosions since the January peace deal while it is believed many incidents go unreported.
(AFP/ST)