Ugandan army resumes military operations against rebels outside peace zone

The Ugandan army has resumed military operations against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels, who have refused to respond to their commander Sam Kolo's request for a ceasefire, an army officer in northern Uganda said.

Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) chief of intelligence in the north Col. Charles Otema Awany was quoted by local press on Thursday as saying that the army killed at least four rebels in Pader district on Tuesday.

The military action is the second clash between the army and the rebels since the ceasefire which began last week. The government troops attacked the position of LRA rebels at Katire valley in southern Sudan on Monday and killed 10 rebel fighters.

Awany said the UPDF had killed two LRA rebels in Omot sub-county, adding that the army also killed rebels who had attacked Pader-Ongany, Pader sub-county, after refusing to gather in the ceasefire zones in the north.

The seven-day ceasefire declared by the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni expired on 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Tuesday.

The Ugandan army has withdrawn its 15,000 troops from the 300 square miles gazetted areas in northern Uganda following the declaration of the ceasefire.

However, rebel leader Joseph Kony onNov. 17 ordered his fighters to move to his Sudanese base at Nisitu, contrary to the ceasefire conditions.

"We have resumed military operations against rebel groups that violated the ceasefire, which their top commander requested," Awany said, adding that "we are in full operations against them because they have continued to wreck havoc on innocent civilians right from the day the ceasefire commenced."

"We shall only leave the LRA who have gathered in the ceasefirezones and are not dangerous to civilians," he added.

Meanwhile, the UPDF has released a list of 14 violations by theLRA rebels during the seven-day ceasefire, saying that six people have been killed and 33 civilians abducted in the violations.

The army pointed out that Kony's silence and continuous movement into Sudan was tantamount to violation of the ceasefire.

Source: Xinhua