LRA kills three Sudanese in deadly ambush in Western Equatoria

By Richard Ruati

May 17, 2010 (TAMBURA) — Three Sudanese nationals were killed when their car was bushed by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in southern Sudan state of Western Equatoria, eyewitness confirmed on Monday.

The victims of the fatal casualties were three men who were traveling from Yambio to Tambura. All of them were government officials, Mr. William Arkangelo Baabe, was also known as “Small William” he served as State Director of Accelerated Adult Education, Mr. Gabriel Makana as Director of Finance and Administration and a driver in the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Late William Arkangelo Baabe and the two men were inhumanly murdered by the LRA in Mabia just few miles from Tambura.

William and the two others who were traveling by vehicle, their corpses have been taken to Tambura now.

Mourners who have spoken to Sudan Tribune have described the deadliest car ambush as “gruesome”.

Western Equatoria state has been rocked by LRA activities since 2006

Western Equatoria Governor Elect Col Joseph Bakosoro is yet to take oath, many people who voted him believe he is beacon of hope to deal with LRA horrific atrocities.

There is no functional government in WES at the moment, the caretaker governor who lost election in April is believed to have left the state two weeks ago.

Since 2005, the notoriously brutal LRA operates from bases in southern Sudan and has received arms and ammunition from Khartoum in retaliation for support Kampala has given to then southern rebel SPLA.

Khartoum has categorically denied arming LRA rebels, during an election campaign in WES’s Maridi County, President Bashir promised to end LRA cruel activities in Western Equatoria – the promise is yet to become true.

Thousands of people have been forced from their homes during the LRA’s presence in South Sudan’s Western Equatoria State, that has been marked by brutal attacks against the civilian population in the in the region and neighboring DRC and CAR.

LRA FRESH SPATE OF ATTACKS IN SOUTH SUDAN’S WESTERN EQUATORIA

The most recent LRA attack in South Sudan happened yesterday, on May 16, 2010. Sudan Tribune has learn that between 30 and 40 LRA rebels, including women, attacked five miles north of the town of Tambura, close to the borders with the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The LRA group ransacked a medical center, looted food and other items, and abducted seven people. At least two people were released today, one of whom said that the LRA had Arabic speakers among them. Some Acholi fighters from northern Uganda also learned to speak Arabic during their stay in Sudan when the LRA was based near Juba, under the protection of the Sudanese Armed Forces, in the early 2000s.

In a well known LRA tactic, the rebels abducted three people yesterday morning in Namutina, north of Tambura, who were used as guides for the attack near Tambura. After the attack, the LRA fighters divided into two – one group moving north on the road to Wau and another group going east. According to a source on the ground, the LRA group moving east attacked today in Mabia, 17 miles southeast of Tambura. Details of this latest attack remain unclear. A Ugandan army officer told Enough Project that the Ugandan army in Sudan was not aware of the recent attacks in Namutina, Tambura, and Mabia.

LRA attacks in South Sudan resumed this March – after a few months of relative stability – when an LRA group coming from eastern Congo attacked the refugee camp of Napere, just north of Ezo in Sudan’s Western Equatoria state. Local sources told Enough that during the attack, which took place on the night of March 2 and the early hours of March 3, the LRA killed one person and severely injured another. Napere is home to 3,000 Congolese refugees who escaped LRA attacks northwest of Dungu in Haut Uele province in Congo.

LRA attacks have continued in the last three months. On March 15, 2010, a small LRA group attacked five miles west of Ezo, leaving three dead and two abducted. A local resident told Enough that the fighters were part of a larger LRA group responsible for many attacks. Two weeks later, on March 29 the same group moved further east in WES and attacked the village of Uze, seven miles south of Yambio, abducting six people. The same LRA group abducted eight people in Navago, adjacent to Yambio, according to a U.N. internal report. A recent U.N. report claims that Napere refugee camp was attacked again on April 6, just a month after the first attack.

Attacks in the vicinity of the WES capital of Yambio are surprising because a large base of the Ugandan army is located fewer than 15 miles north in the town of Nzara. The recent attacks also reveal a potential new strategy of LRA groups, which no longer seem content to launch attacks from Congo and the Central African Republic. Instead, LRA groups are moving inside WES towards the Sudanese state of Western Bahr El Ghazal. It is likely that the LRA group that attacked Mabia today is heading to the Bire Kpatua Forest, between Sudan and Congo, which used to – and might still be – a favorite hangout of the LRA commander Dominic Ongwen and his fighters.

In most of the recent attacks in Sudan, the first to respond have been the Arrow Boys, groups of civilians armed with locally manufactured weapons protecting their communities. In the aftermath of the Navago attack on March 31, for instance, 200 Arrow Boys chased the LRA and managed to rescue all of the eight abductees.

(ST)