Frank Mugabi
15 June 2008
Kampala — THE Uganda People's Defence Forces is ready to launch a major onslaught againt LRA rebels following reports that the fighters have split into smaller groups and are moving towards the border with Sudan.
Army chief Gen. Aronda Nyakairima said yesterday his forces were investigating reports that the rebels were 20km from the border and that others had already crossed the Nile in an attempt to retrieve their weapons buried in northern Uganda.
"We have intensified our intelligence activities because we have information that some rebels may have crossed the Nile."
Speaking in an interview with The New Vision in Arua town, Aronda said.
suspicious movements had also been detected in Morobo county of South Sudan, 18km from the border with Koboko in West Nile, while another group was loitering west of Kajo-Keji near Moyo district.
The general said the army would not wait for the rebels to enter into Uganda but would follow them 20km across the border to stop them (related story under LOCAL NORTH).
Aronda, who spent the weekend in Arua meeting top security chiefs from the Congo, UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUC) and South Sudan, said: "We are not going to wait for them to shed more blood of the innocent. We will cross the border and take them on."
The officials whom he met at White Castle Hotel included the MONUC commander for Ituri. The meeting was attended by top army officers from the UPDF 4th Division led by the commandant, Brigadier Dan Kidega.
Aronda also met the resident district commissioners from Adjumani, Moyo, Yumbe, Koboko, Arua, Nyadri and Nebbi.
The Arua meeting came three days after Aronda met his Congolese and South Sudan counterparts in the south Sudanese capital of Juba to "perfect" the option of a looming military pursuit".
Aronda accused LRA leader Joseph Kony of duping the world into believing that he was interested in peace talks which collapsed in Juba in April. He said he took advantage of the process to rebuild his force through abductions in Sudan, Congo and the Central African Republic.
He noted that over the 22 years of insurgency, Kony had never been serious about abandoning the war peacefully.
He cited the recent attack on Sudanese People's Liberation Army soldiers at Nabanga as an indication that the LRA were ready to resume war.
Over the weekend South Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar, the chief mediator, however said he would pursue a peace deal with Kony. He said he hoped to contact Kony this week. Kony is wanted for war crimes by the world court, which sits at The Hague.
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