Ugandan rebels accused of massacring civilians in Sudan

KAMPALA, July 24, 2004 (dpa) — Ugandan rebels aided by the Sudanese government have entered the fight against Sudanese rebels and are massacring civilians, with “dozens” killed in the past four days, a Sudanese militia group charged Saturday.

George Riak, a spokesman for Sudan’s main rebel group the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA), said in Kampala that fighters of Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) with the support of the government army on Friday overran a rebel detachment at a village in southern Sudan, killing seven militiamen.

The Sudanese rebel group the Equatorial Defence Force (EDF), which is allied with the SPLA, issued a statement saying the LRA were battling EDF fighters in villages around the towns of Torit and Kapoeta and were backed by military helicopters from the Sudanese government.

Reverend Paul Yugusuk, the head of the Anglican Church archdeaconry of Lomega in southern Sudan confirmed the killings of civilians by the LRA and the on-going battles with the EDF, adding that over 100 people might have been killed in the past few weeks.

“I cannot tell the exact number of people killed in the past weeks but they are over 100 in the past two to three weeks,” Yugusuk said. “You may find 5 bodies in one area, 17 in another and 20 in another.”

The LRA, an elusive guerilla army notorious for killing and abducting civilians, have been fighting the Ugandan government for 17 years from bases in southern Sudan.

Khartoum officially denies aiding the LRA but persistent reports from non-government groups and religious leaders based in the region confirm Sudanese government support for the rebels.

Ben Parker, a spokesman for the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Office in Nairobi, said Saturday that his office has not received reports of the killings of civilians by the LRA due in part to the remoteness of the areas of conflict.