Ugandan rebels accused of killing 17 Sudanese civilians

KHARTOUM, Nov 19 (AFP) — A pro-government southern Sudanese militia accused a Ugandan rebel group of killing 17 Sudanese civilians, and claimed it killed 20 LRA militants in return, newspapers reported Wednesday.

Uganda’s Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killed 17 civilians in an area held by another pro-Khartoum militia, the Equatoria Defence Force (EDF), in Eastern Equatoria state bordering Uganda, the English-language daily Khartoum Monitor quoted a Sudanese commander as saying.

South Sudan Defence Force (SSDF) Commander Martin Kenyi said his militia killed some 20 LRA supporters and wounded several others, without providing further details about the exchange of fire.

“The LRA are now killing our people, not only the Ugandans, and our fellow southerners and Equatorians in particular are the victims,” the commander said.

Kenyi did not say whether the defence force played in role in fighting the LRA.

Cross-border attacks by the LRA on populations in Equatoria have forcibly displaced many people who are now living in bad conditions and lack medicine and other essential items, Kenyi said.

The commander said they had reported the displaced people to the government of Eastern Equatoria State and to NGOs but had received no response.

Fighting off the LRA requires assistance by the international community and a joint action by the Ugandan army and SSDF/EDF, Kenyi said.

“We want SSDF/EDF particularly to get direct support from the international community to halt the operations of this terrorist organisation,” Kenyi said.

“If the situation in Eastern Equatoria is not addressed by the international community and by the Sudanese and Ugandan governments, it will create a serious problem after peace as it will destabilize the areas of peace, ” the SSDF commander warned.

The LRA has been fighting since 1988 with a declared aim of replacing President Yoweri Museveni’s secular government in Uganda with one based on the biblical Ten Commandments.