Ten rebels dead, leader Kony among surrounded group: Ugandan army

KAMPALA, Nov 23 (AFP) — The Ugandan army said Tuesday that it had surrounded a group of Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in southern Sudan that included LRA leader Joseph Kony (photo) after an assault that killed 10 of his fighters.

“Our surveillance units followed his group as it moved inside Sudan and alerted our ground troops that attacked the group in Katire valley (about 100 kilometers/60 miles inside Sudan),” Colonel Charles Otema, the intelligence officer in charge of the operation, told AFP.

“We killed 10 of them and we are still pursuing Kony.” he said, adding the the group Kony was travelling with had been surrounded.

The incident could not be independently confirmed.

Meanwhile in Kampala, the government was expected later Tuesday to decide whether or not to geographically expand and extend a week-long ceasefire in a 300 square kilometre area in northern Uganda, next to Sudan.

The truce, announced to facilitate peace talks with the LRA, expired Tuesday morning.

Also Tuesday, the army announced it would continue to attack rebels outside the area, accusing them of continuing to abduct civilians, a hallmark of the LRA.

On Saturday, the LRA said they had halted attacks both in northern Uganda and Southern Sudan, where it has bases.

The LRA has been fighting government forces in northern Uganda for the past 18 years. It has gained infamy for its brutality against civilians killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of them.

Ninety percent of the population of three northern districts, some 1.6 million people, now live in camps.