Kampala — The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have kidnapped more than 200 villagers, including 50 children, in Dakwa, a village in northeastern Congo, about 200km from the border with the Central African Republic.

This was reported yesterday by Radio Okapi, the UN-funded radio in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Quoting church officials and local authorities, the radio said several dozen rebels attacked the village at 11:00pm on Tuesday, looting and burning down houses, shops, a health centre and the Catholic mission.

“According to the nurse in charge of the health centre, the rebels retreated with more than 200 persons after a response by a soldier of FARDC (the Congolese army), but returned a few hours later to occupy the village,” the radio reported on Saturday.

A villager who managed to escape was quoted by the radio as saying: “They looted the hospital, taking all the medicines. All the pharmacies have also been looted. The rebels returned to the village later. They are there up to now, slaughtering and eating other people’s goats.”

The residents had reportedly gathered for a vigil. “They surrounded the village. The people were in mourning. They were taken away into the bush,” Marcel Kumbonyeki, the local Catholic priest in Bondo, said.

“They carried out a second attack at 2:00pm on Wednesday. At that time a policeman was shot, then stabbed to death, and they kidnapped the rest,” he said.

One policeman was confirmed killed by the LRA, although the total death toll could be higher, local authorities said.

“The total number of people killed is not yet known since many people are missing and many others have fled towards Dingila,” Okapi said.

A first influx of about 100 displaced people arrived on Thursday in Dingila, the radio reported. “Those testify that many others are on the way to Dingila, particularly women and children.”

The attack on Dakwa came just two days after LRA rebels raided two other villages, Buve and Mungali, in the same area.

Following the renewed LRA offensive, Congo’s Parliament on Thursday recommended that the government sends army and police reinforcements to the area to protect the population.

The attacks are a sign that the LRA has regrouped and regained its capacity to strike after it was significantly disorganised by the operating Lightning thunder, the three-month offensive by the armies of Uganda, the DRC and Southern Sudan which ended in March.

Last month, a bill was passed in the US senate, calling upon the Barack Obama administration to support efforts to protect civilians and eliminate the LRA threat once and for all.

Several US senators and international NGOs have been pushing for a second Uganda-led operation against the LRA, sanctioned and supported by the US government.

Operation Lightning Thunder failed to apprehend the LRA top leadership. The LRA split up in small groups and retaliated against civilians in Congo and Southern Sudan, leaving over 1,000 people dead, hundreds of children abducted and 200,000 people displaced.

A report by Enough, an American think thank, pointed out that there was poor co-ordination between the three armies during the joint offensive.

It also noted that the Congolese army was weak and did not have sufficient troops on the ground to protect the population.

The new operation would require stronger and more effective support from the US and the international community, and the full commitment from the Congolese government and army to complete the job in a reasonable timeframe, the report suggested.

The US, it added, should provide solid planning, intelligence, co-ordination, and logistical support and take greater responsibility for the execution and outcomes of the operation.