5,000 sent to fight Kony
Ugandan soldiers during earlier efforts to capture Kony in Garamba forest.
What you need to know:
Renewed efforts. AU forces backed by American soldiers have the task to capture elusive LRA leader, or kill him.
Three years after the end of Operation Lightning Thunder that failed to capture the elusive Lord’s Resistance Army rebel leader Joseph Kony, the African Union has launched another attempt to get him, this time round, with a force of 5,000 soldiers.
The AU force to be led by Uganda is composed of national armies from South Sudan, DR Congo and the Central African Republic, countries where Kony’s reign of terror has been felt over the years.
Col. Dick Prit Olum (Uganda) has been appointed the commander for the joint forces and will be deputised by Lt. Col. David Alyol (South Sudan). DR Congo’s Benjamin Bongoma is to head the joint operation centre in Yambio (South Sudan) and will be deputised by Lt. Col. Adolph Dobigue (Central African Republic).
The AU chairperson’s special representative for counter-terrorism cooperation, Ambassador Francisco Caetano Jose Madeira, said on Friday the Force’s mandate is to capture or kill Kony.
Deployment will start after today’s launch of the operation at its headquarters in Yambio, and will last until mission is complete.
“The forces are trained to live in the bush, to sniff until they capture Kony or put an end to his activities,” he said.
No more failures
Mr Madeira down-played the failure by the regional force backed by Africom to capture the rebel leaders in December 2008.
“Countries that have tried to hunt down Kony before failed because they were not properly co-ordinated. This is an AU-authorised force to prevail and put an end to Kony and his henchmen,” Ambassador Madeira said yesterday.
A regional force composed of Uganda, South Sudan and DR Congo in December 2008 launched a campaign named Operation Lightning Thunder against the rebels. The operation weakened the LRA leadership, led to the capture of some of its commanders and flushed the rebels out of their hideout in Garamba Forest in eastern DR Congo but failed to capture or kill its top commanders.
Amb. Madeira said the coordinated deployment of AU troops would ‘neutralise Kony’ and isolate the LRA, whose men are said to have split into small groups. The LRA is thought to have only 200 to 300 soldiers today.
Last year, the US deployed 100 US special commandos to help regional governments to capture Kony and his LRA rebels. The American soldiers are now based in Uganda and DR Congo.
The officials meeting in Uganda on Friday did not say where the funding for the mission was coming from but acknowledged that finding money was a problem.
