Ugandan-led rebel group steps up attacks in Central Africa

A Ugandan-led rebel group operating in Central Africa abducted 498 civilians and killed 17 others in the first half of this year, a watchdog organisation said on Wednesday, suggesting a resurgence of the group whose leader is the target of an international manhunt.
The attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army happened mostly in the eastern part of Central African Republic and in the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the LRA Crisis Tracker, which monitors the activities of the rebel group.
Members of the LRA, including leader Joseph Kony, are the subject of an international manhunt that includes US troops. Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court.
The LRA is notorious for abducting children who then become fighters or sex slaves.
In the new report, the LRA Crisis Tracker says an order by Kony led to dozens of new child abductions and that a poaching group has returned to DRC’s Garamba National Park. Another watchdog, the Enough Project, reported last year that the LRA is slaughtering elephants for their ivory, which the group trades for supplies in Sudanese-controlled territory.
The increase in LRA violence comes as Uganda considers withdrawing troops deployed in the Central African Republic from an African Union force, saying the rebels no longer pose a threat to Uganda.