Peace and Conflict Update
(REUTERS photo/Finbarr O’Reilly)
The Enough Project released a report earlier this week detailing Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) related activity in the conflict-ridden Central African Republic (CAR). According to the report, the Ugandan People’s Defense Force came extremely close to apprehending LRA-rebel leader Joseph Kony in CAR last year, but fell short due to a severe lack of domestic security and multilateral support. The report also calls upon the United States to deliver on their promise of developing a comprehensive strategy to alleviate Central Africa of the LRA.
The Eastern Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has had a conflict-saturated week. The Allied Democratic Force (ADF), an otherwise inactive rebel group from Uganda, attacked and killed at least 16 people earlier today in the village of Mutwanga. The Congolese village sits in the Eastern region of the DRC bordering Uganda, where the government has begun increasing border security after reports of the ADF’s plans to target them. General Amuli Bahigwa of the DRC also confirmed that 80 Ugandan and Rwandan rebels have been killed at the Eastern Congolese border in an operation that began June 1st. The LRA attacked and raided multiple Eastern DRC villages last Sunday in search of food and supplies. At least two people were killed in the process.
So the ADF is another rebel group attacking the regions already plagued by LRA violence? That’s very upsetting. Could someone explain if I am oversimplifying this seemingly new threat to the region?