Sam Oboke and John Muto
18 July 2002
Gunfire rocked Apac district yesterday when rebels attacked secondary schools and a catholic mission in Apac.
Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army rebels also attacked Alito sub-county headquarters 12 km north west of Lira.
The Uganda People's Defence Forces were tipped in time and engaged the rebels for over 40 minutes 25km from Lira.
Students at Aloro Secondary School scattered in disarray, and some of them ran naked.
By press time some students were still in the bush, fearing for their lives.
At the mission, the rebels burnt a motorcycle and vandalised property belonging to the parish priest Rev. Fr. George Opio.
"Luckily Opio was not in the house but we don't know about the fate of Fr. Simon Peter Longilo who was in the station yet," Co-ordinator Lira Diocese Carlos Ojula said.
Reports say 14 rebels and four UPDF soldiers were killed in the fire exchange.
An Ak-47 riffle was also recovered.
The rebels later in the day re-grouped and attacked another school, Aromu Secondary School, 40 km north of Lira.
Traffic on the route to Kitgum is reportedly blocked but details have not been revealed yet.
Security operatives from both Apac and Lira were held up in a meeting the whole day yesterday.
Meanwhile, one Okot Bitek was killed yesterday morning and 11 abducted 2km east of Gulu town.
A survivor of the raid said Okot was defence secretary and member of Maj. Kakooza Mutale's Kalangala Action Plan (KAP)
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