LRA Loses More Than Half Its Force, But More Lethal than Ever
A list of victims in February LRA massacre. New York Times.
The LRA has lost 60 percent of its forces due to a top Africom program, but has responded by killing and kidnapping hundreds of Congolese civilians in remote parts of northeastern Congo, Central African Republic, and the Sudan. Desperate for resources, the army reportedly takes even the clothes from the corpses they leave behind for use.
The New York Times reported new information about the Lord’s Resistance Army in a story that ran on March 27th.
Africom is shorthand for the United States African Command, which was created in 2007 by President Bush. It manages American military operations and relations with 53 countries. Africom’s partnership with the LRA uses millions of dollars of defense aid to hunt down LRA fighters.
Last December, the LRA committed one of the largest massacres in its history, according to reports coming out now. Over 320 Congolese civilians were killed in Tapili, a remote part of the Congo that has virtually no roads, cell phones, or electricity. The LRA also killed more than 800 civilians in a Christmas massacre in December 2008, in a revenge attack after Operation Lightning Thunder– a joint attack by the UPDF, U.S., Congo, and Sudanese government in eastern Congo on the LRA.
The Enough Project,part of the Center for American Progress. argues in a report that the Sudanese government is supporting the LRA again. When this issue was raised in a hearing at the House of Representations, according to Resolve Uganda, assistant Secretary of State for African affairs Johnnie Carson said, “I have to say that Kony has been elusive to the Ugandan military as Osama bin Laden has been to allied operations in the Afghan-Pakistan area. The Ugandans have made a real effort, but it has been real difficult.”
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