More than 30,000 people without shelter after fire in displaced persons camp in northern Uganda

By HENRY WASSWA Associated Press Writer

KAMPALA, Uganda, Feb 03, 2004 (AP) — A fire sparked by a soldier’s carelessly tossed cigarette destroyed the mud-and-thatch huts of more than 30,000 people displaced by fighting between the army and rebels in northern Uganda, a Roman Catholic missionary said Tuesday.

The soldiers were searching Pabo camp for weapons and suspected Lord’s Resistance Army rebels on Sunday when one of the troopers flicked his cigarette onto a pile of dry grass, igniting the blaze that burned down the 4,000 huts, leaving nearly half the camp’s population without shelter, said the Rev. Carlos Rodriguez of the Comboni missionaries in a statement.

Rodriguez said the soldiers also rounded up 6,000 men living in the camp 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Kampala, and roughed up some camp residents.

Army spokesman Lt. Paddy Ankunda confirmed the huts were destroyed in a fire, but he denied soldiers had anything to do with igniting the blaze, saying the fire was “lit by some weird character in the camp.” He also said no men were detained, and none of the residents were hurt by the soldiers.

But before the fire began, the troops found more than 800 rounds of ammunition and some Sudanese army uniforms in an abandoned hut, he said.

The Ugandans have accused the government of neighboring Sudan of supporting the LRA rebels, a shadowy group that has little contact with the outside world.

The northern rebels have fought the government of President Yoweri Museveni, a southerner, for 17 years. But they are best known for kidnapping thousands of children for use as soldiers or sex slaves.

Fighting between the army and rebels intensified after Feb. 2002 when Sudan agreed to allow Ugandan troops to attack bases in southern Sudan.