UGANDA: LRA rebels kill 10 IDPs in morning attack

KAMPALA, 6 May 2005 (IRIN) - At least 10 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed in northern Uganda on Thursday when rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacked civilians who were working in their fields, military and humanitarian sources said.

Fifteen other IDPs were injured, the sources added.

"They used machetes, axes and the hoes the people [IDPs] were using to kill them, while those who ran away were shot. We have since established that at least 10 were killed," army spokesman, Lt Kiconco Tabaro, told IRIN from Gulu town, 380 km north of the Ugandan capital, Kampala.

The attack occurred in the morning at Koc Goma, about 40 km southwest of Gulu town, he added. Aid workers and church officials in Gulu put the death toll at 14.

"The rebels killed 14 people on Thursday morning. The people had gone to dig in the fields near the IDP camp," a Roman Catholic Church official who asked not to be named, told IRIN on Friday.

Tabaro said the wounded were admitted to Lacor missionary hospital, some in critical condition. The army was pursuing the attackers, he added.

The LRA has waged a 19-year war against the government of President Yoweri Museveni, and is estimated to have abducted more than 20,000 children to serve as fighters, porters and sex slaves during that period.

The conflict has driven about 1.6 million people from their homes to live in squalid camps where the government said it was able to offer better protection.

The army has in recent months claimed that the LRA rebellion had been weakened and that the latest attacks were just a desperate attempt by the group to remain in the limelight.

Religious and local leaders in the region insist the government should talk peace with the LRA, but the Ugandan authorities say the military option is the most effective way to eliminate the rebels.

Tabaro said in April, government troops killed 84 rebel fighters and rescued 95 children kidnapped by the insurgents. He said some 28 rebels were captured while 12 surrendered. Forty guns, as well as ammunition, were seized from the rebels, he added.

In July 2004, at the request of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague initiated an investigation into possible war crimes committed during the conflict.

More recently, the ICC announced plans to issue arrest warrants for LRA commander-in-chief, Joseph Kony, and several other high-ranking rebels.

However, the ICC has come under increasing pressure to also investigate possible abuses by the Ugandan army, including the recruitment of child soldiers and the rape and torture of civilians.

[ENDS]