Ugandan insurgents killed more than 100 people while raiding villages in southern Sudan in late June, a church leader in the war-torn region said on Friday.
Reverend Paul Yugusuk, the head of the region’s Anglican deaconry, said in Kampala that rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) had gone on a killing spree in the area and also looted property, burnt homes and displaced thousands of civilians.
He confirmed an earlier statement by southern-Sudan-based militia the Equatoria Defence Force (EDF) that 122 people were killed and at least 14 000 displaced by LRA insurgents when they attacked a series of villages from June 25 to 27.
”The LRA has been moving through the villages in search of food. They have been killing people. I cannot give the exact number but at least 100 civilians were killed,” said Yugusuk.
The LRA, which has been fighting the Ugandan government for 17 years from bases in southern Sudan, is known for killing and abducting civilians it comes across.
The rebels had been getting military support from the Sudanese government in the past, but Khartoum today denies that is helping the LRA.
Nonetheless, various groups including the EDF say the rebels are supported by the Sudanese government.
EDF secretary general Charles Barnaba Kisanga said in a statement: ”The total number of civilians who lost their lives in the LRA rampage this time stands at 122.”
He gave a breakdown of LRA’s killing of civilians in the individual villages, listing: ”Lyangari, 47 killed; Lowai, 25 killed; Longairo, one killed; Moti [Khartoum area], 25 killed; Lolyanga, 15 killed; and Logire, 9 killed.”
About 4 000 civilians had fled to join thousands already seeking shelter with the army in Magwi, while their livelihoods were being destroyed. In the meantime, 10 000 other were returning to their burnt-out villages without food, he added.
In the recent fights, seven EDF soldiers had been killed and three others wounded, while the LRA had lost 20 rebels, he said. — Sapa-DPA