Ugandan army kills senior LRA commander in CAR
By Richard Ruati
January 2, 2009 (KAMPALA) – The Ugandan army says it has killed a notorious senior commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army. A spokesperson said Buk Abudema was shot dead during an offensive in the southeast of the country.
Speaking to Sudan Tribune via telephone hookup, Ugandan Army Spokesperson Lt Col Felix Kulayigye confirmed that, “so-called General Buk was killed on Friday in Nd’Jema few kilometers from Obo.” Obo is 200 miles from southern Sudan.
According to the Army spokesperson, “Gen Buk was killed with two of LRA soldiers as most of the commanders lack fighters these days.”
Kulayigye said that, “Buk has been the overall commander active since Odiambo was crippled. The inactiveness of Odiambo as the number two of LRA commander after General Kony made Buk to ascend as the number two.”
He added that, “the killed commander was responsible for many atrocities in northern Ugandan during LRA precarious days in the region.”
Kulayigye reiterated the Ugandan Army intelligence report of Kony hiding in Western Bahr El Ghazal as the allied forces continue to intensify on him and his few fighters.
However, there is growing concern within the Uganda Army if Kony makes it to Darfur; it is doubtful whether the Khartoum Government will allow the UPDF to hunt Kony up to Darfur.
The field commanders of Ugandan Army pursuing Kony have hailed the killing of Gen Buk, calling it “a significant start and closeness on Kony in the New Year.”
Since late 2008, the civilian population of Northeast of DRC, South Sudan and CAR has been caught up in a dramatic cycle of violence linked to attacks perpetrated by the Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and the Ugandan, South Sudan and Congolese armies have been hunting the infamous rebels.
The governments of the three countries have been co-operating to wipe out the remaining commanders.
The LRA split into small groups of fighters, who are scattered across three central African countries.
The LRA has been active in northern Uganda since 1988. It is not clear which aims the organisation pursues.
Gen Kony has said he wanted to establish a society based on the 10 Commandments.
LRA leader Joseph Kony and two other LRA commanders have been wanted by the International Criminal Tribunal since 2005 on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
LRA violence has displaced tens of thousands of people in Uganda and more recently also in Congo and Sudan. Many others have been killed in often brutal violence.
(ST)