Ugandan army says up to 15 more LRA rebels killed

Aug 16, 2006 (NAIROBI) — Ugandan troops have shot dead up to 15 Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) fighters in the two weeks since the LRA declared a ceasefire, a military spokesman said on Wednesday, accusing the guerrillas of breaking their own truce.

Tentative peace talks between Ugandan officials and LRA representatives were adjourned to Friday this week after troops killed a top rebel wanted by the International Criminal Court.

On Wednesday, a Ugandan army spokesman in the north said several other rebels had been killed in separate clashes since the LRA announced its cessation of hostilities on Aug. 4.

“Up to 15 LRA fighters have also been killed since then in various locations,” Lieutenant Chris Magezi said by telephone.

“They broke their own ceasefire by trying to steal food from villages and abduct others to carry off their loot.”

It was not possible immediately to confirm the report.

LRA officials at the talks in Juba, capital of neighbouring south Sudan, wore black armbands on Tuesday and called for three days to mourn their commander Raska Lukwiya, who was gunned down on Saturday in northern Uganda’s remote Kitgum district.

The discussions are due to resume on Friday.

South Sudan’s government says it wants to broker an end to the LRA’s 20-year insurrection, which has uprooted nearly two million people in northern Uganda and destabilised south Sudan.