W. Equatoria forces kill four LRA in Nzara County
March 30, 2009 (LONDON) – Local armed groups in the southern Sudan known as “Arrow Boys” killed four Lord’s Resistance Army guerrillas on Saturday not far from Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria State (WES).
The LRA guerrilla group, which originally started in northern Uganda, is reviled by locals for its long history of atrocities, child abductions and forcible recruiting. Some of the LRA apparently scattered northward from DR Congo after a joint strike in Garamba National Park in December, conducted jointly by Uganda, Southern Sudan and DR Congo with US backing.
“The Arrow boys Self Defence groups in Western Equatoria have again clashed with Ugandan Lords Army rebels (LRA) and this time our gallant boys taught the LRA a lesson as the Self Defence groups inflected heavy losses on the LRA by killing 4 terrorist and capturing another terrorist alive,” stated Charles Kisanga, chairman of the Zande Community World-wide Organisation head office in London.
WES Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Col. Samuel Bati rushed to the scene and verify the clash and the killing of the 4 LRA.
The clash occurred in the village of Sangua on the way to Dorima and the LRA are believed to have come from the area of Dorima in DR Congo where they have set up a camp just beyond Sudan’s border.
Also a woman and her 2 children who had been captive with the LRA for over a year were rescued together, reported Kisanga. They are now being cared for by the state authority as they were collected yesterday by Minister Bati.
The one LRA who was taken prisoner became prompted speculations about his origin. Kisanga stated “WES authorities are baffled by the fact that the captured LRA terrorist seemed to be a Sudanese Arab and he has been handed over to Nzara county police and security officials for interrogation and verification of his identity and how he came to be with the LRA terrorists.”
Such suspicions arise perhaps from the fact that Khartoum’s security forces supplied LRA during the civil war ended in 2005. Despite the peace agreement, attacks by the LRA have continued in the area.
Kisanga also suggested that in the same area of Sangua, three weeks ago, a convoy of trucks loaded with food items, consisting of maize flour, beans, salt and rice, attempted to make a delivery to LRA. The truck was halted by authorities on its way to DR Congo for violating an order not to go beyond the village.
“There was no road to Congo over there and further there is an LRA camp between Doruma in DR Congo and Namama in Sudan,” said Kisanga.
But the leader of the convoy of 13 trucks insisted that World Food Programme contacted Caritas Uganda to deliver the food but so far nobody from either Caritas Uganda nor WFP has come to Yambio to claim the food consignment and WFP in Juba and SSRRC in Juba all say they are not aware about such arrangement to deliver food to Dorima. Hence WES authorities are still holding the food trucks while waiting for the right information from either WFP or Caritas Uganda.
The defence groups in WES have received some quiet support from the SPLA, drawing on the former guerrilla army for ammunition and recruits, but they operate independently.
According to newly released report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey, authorities in Western Equatoria largely ignored a civilian disarmament campaign ordered last year by the President of the Government of Southern Sudan.
“State officials concluded that the President Kiir’s order was the wrong plan at the wrong time as long as the LRA continued to destabilize the region,” wrote researcher Adam O’Brien.
Since WES was not a major theatre of operations during the civil war, neither SPLA nor the Sudan Armed Forces resorted to arming local proxy militias, as occurred extensively in some other states. Thus “the civilian population of WES is not as saturated with firearms as many other states in South Sudan,” noted Small Arms Survey’s report.
(ST)