Nineteen people civilians were killed by insurgents at a refugee camp in northern Uganda, officials of the Kampala government said on Wednesday.
According to Apach district commissioner Mary Francis Owor, ”more than 100 rebels attacked Aboko camp, killed 19 people and also abducting several others”.
She said the incident occurred on Tuesday when rebels attacked with guns and machetes and set 385 huts on fire, forcing camp inhabitants to flee. The survivors were in need of relief aid including tents.
The region’s army spokesperson, Lieutenant Paddy Ankunda, confirmed the attack and the fatality figures.
Aboko camp, 310km north of the Ugandan capital of Kampala, is home to about 3 000 refugees who fled their homes in the thick of the 17-year rebellion mounted by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels in the region. — Sapa-DPA