Kampala — The Lord's Resistance Army rebels on Friday attacked Gulu Cathedral, the headquarters of the Catholic Church in northern Uganda.

The rebels burnt three vehicles and abducted white priest. The rebels gained entrance to the mission after cutting through the fence. The rebels struck at 1am and pillaged the mission for one hour.

They set ablaze a FIAT lorry (UXX 375), a Mitsubishi pick-up truck (UPO 740), a Suzuki car (UPW 171) and motorbike.

The rebels also beat up an 85-year old priest, Fr Albertini. The Parish Priest at the Gulu Cathedral, Fr. Gabriel Durigon, was abducted by the rebels, but was freed after a few hours outside the mission.

The rebels also took away a hi-tech communication system and a solar panel from the ageing Italian priests.

"The rebels made a lot of noise banging doors using axes without firing a bullet," Fr Gabriel said.

The Gulu Cathedral is about 12km north of the UPDF 4th Division headquarters.

The Cathedral is just 200 metres from Archbishop Odama's house.

When The Monitor visited the mission the priests were all upset and looked on helplessly as their vehicles burned.

The priests said that there was no response from the UPDF soldiers or night duty police officers nearby.

"Government soldiers were nowhere to be seen... The rebels stayed here for about one hour, burning vehicles and breaking into the houses," Fr Gabriel said.

The rebels retreated towards Obiya-West village where they abducted civilians before disappearing into the bushes in Patiko subcounty.

The Provincial Superior of the Comboni Missionaries in Uganda, Rev Fr Guido Oliana blamed the government for failing to end the northern war through peaceful means.

"It's a pity and shame to see that the government is not doing enough to end this 17-year war. If the UPDF was militarily oriented, it should have laid good strategy of getting rid of this war long time ago," the priest said yesterday.

Fr Oliana appealed to the government to dress its soldiers decently and provide transport for them.

The soldiers are just walking barefoot on the streets, he said. Security officials, including the 4th Division Intelligence Officer, Captain Fred Rugadia visited the mission early morning on Friday.