Ugandan rebels violate truce, kill Army officer in Sudan

Oct 18, 2006 (KAMPALA) — Rebels fighting a brutal 19-year conflict in northern Uganda have killed an Ugandan battalion commander in southern Sudan, violating a month and a half truce, the army spokesman said Wednesday.

Capt. Sam Mugarura, commander of Uganda’s 91st Battalion based in southern Sudan, was shot while walking to his battalion’s headquarters, said Maj. Felix Kulayigye, the army spokesman.

Deputy Defense Minister Ruth Nankabirwa said, “The killing of Capt. Mugarura is a blatant violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement which they (the rebels) signed. It is a major concern to the people of Uganda who have been hoping for peace talks to succeed.”

Neither said that this would make Uganda reconsider its participation in the talks.

A spokesman for the Lord’s Resistance Army, Godfrey Ayo, denied that members of his group killed the Ugandan officer, saying that there are many armed groups in southern Sudan that could have killed the officer.

Each side has repeatedly accused the other of violating the increasingly fragile truce.

(AP)