Ugandan army moves in on rebels in southern Sudan

KAMPALA, April 19, 2004 (Xinhua) — The Ugandan government forces is closing in on the rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in their new sanctuary in Kit II valley in southern Sudan, the New Vision reported Monday.

It quoted a regional military spokesman of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) as saying in the north of the country that the UPDF has spread its troops to the uninhabited jungles below the “red line”, the boundary dividing UPDF and the Sudan People’s Armed Forces (SPAF).

The spokesman, Paddy Ankunda, said recently that the rebels aredesperate for food and medicines.

LRA leader Joseph Kony and his supporters fled to Kit II valleyafter being dislodged by the UPDF from Imatong and Katire areas last month.

“We are making no mistake. As we close in on Kit area, we occupy areas, where we suspect can be used by the rebels,” said Ankunda.

He said the army is optimistic on the operation in southern Sudan and the government troops is cautiously moving in on Kony.

UPDF spokesman Shaban Bantariza said earlier that “to move intoKit II valley, we need to effectively occupy our rear positions inImatong, Talanga and Katire.”

“This aims at stopping the rebels from reoccupying those strategic areas. We are re-organizing our forces before moving in,” Bantariza said.

The rebels have been fighting 18-year-old war to topple the Ugandan government dominated by southerners, and claiming to give power to northern Acholi tribe.

But the rebel have killed tens of thousands of civilians, abducted over 20,000 children and displaced more than 1.5 million people, most of whom are from Acholi tribe. Since last month the UPDF have been pursuing the rebels in southern Sudan to flush themout after securing a green light from the Khartoum government.