Rebels have ambushed trucks belonging to the United Nations’s World Food Programme (WFP), which were delivering food to hungry people in the remote Karamoja region of north eastern Uganda, a WFP official said on Friday.
Six WFP employees, three drivers and their helpers are still unaccounted for, the acting WFP deputy country director in Uganda, Edward Kallon, said in a phone interview.
”The driving cabins of the trucks were burnt but the food remained intact and they’re making arrangements to remove it,” he said.
Kallon said the incident occurred at Asalatap, about 396km north east of the Ugandan capital Kampala. The trucks were bound for Moroto.
”This is the first time for the convoy to be ambushed in this area. It’s an act intended to perpetuate the suffering of the starving people in Karamoja,” he said.
Lords Resistance Army rebels have been fighting the government for 17 years and have in the last few months extended their operations into north eastern Uganda, killing people and abducting many others.
Local leaders say they’re facing a humanitarian catastrophe if no relief is provided, as the number of people fleeing into Soroti from neighbouring districts has soared to about 100 000.
It was reported earlier this week that the rebels killed more than 30 people in Soroti district and also attacked a trading centre, where they looted drugs and other property. — Sapa-DPA