13 civilians killed by Ugandan rebels in South Sudan – army

Jan 3, 2006 (KAMPALA) — Ugandan army today said Lord’s Resistance Army rebels killed 13 civilians in a series of attacks in southern Sudan since the beginning of this year, the Ugandan New Vision reported.

Rebels suspected to be LRA on Tuesday massacred eight people and forced hundreds to flee in Magwi, east of Juba on the Juba-Torit road.

The same day, three vehicles were ambushed on the Juba-Nimule road, killing five, including two Ugandan businessmen, and wounding eight others.

“We are confident that the killers are the LRA rebels,” said UPDF spokesperson, Maj. Felix Kulayigye.

It was not possible to get a reaction from the LRA representatives in Juba or members of the Ceasefire Monitoring Team.

The ambushes came just three days after the UPDF accused LRA rebels of attacking its liaison officer in Juba, Maj. Richard Otto, who survived by driving through the ambush.

In his new-year message on Gulu Mega FM radio, the deputy LRA commander, Vincent Otti, blamed the UPDF for their failure to assemble at Owiny Kibul in South Sudan, claiming that the army was attacking their fighters.

“The LRA is finding lame excuses for their heinous acts. The truth is that we have no troops near Owiny Kibul, and this fact is known to the monitoring team,” Kulayigye reacted. He called the latest incidents clear violations of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement.

The army added that the on-going rampage is being carried out by the unit of Dominic Ongwen and Caesar Accellam, one of the three LRA groups in Eastern Equatoria State.

The chief government negotiator, Ruhakana Rugunda, said the incident constituted another reason why the peace talks should be expedited.

(New Vision)