The Ugandan military claimed on Saturday that it had killed at least 40 fighters of the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during an encounter in the north of the country.
Government troops used helicopter gunships to pursue the rebel fighters after the insurgents killed a civilian and torched homes in Laporo subcounty of Pader district, said Lieutenant Colonel Charles Otema.
”We located them, pounded their positions using helicopter gunships and at the end of it all we can at least confirm that at least 40 were killed,” said Otema, who spoke by telephone from the northern town of Gulu.
The LRA has battled President Yoweri Museveni’s secular government since 1988, ostensibly to replace it with an administration that it said would enforce the Biblical 10 Commandments. The group is, however, better known for its atrocities against civilians.
Last week, LRA called on the Ugandan government to expand a limited ceasefire to the entire north of the country ahead of peace negotiations, according to a bishop in touch with the rebels.
Religious leaders in northern Uganda are working to end unrest in the region.
Earlier this month, the government declared a ceasefire in two small areas in the north, maintaining military activity in the rest of the region. – Sapa-AFP