Lord’s Resistance Army killed dozens in DR Congo last month, UN reports

The rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) killed 26 persons in 53 separate attacks on villages in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last month, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported today.

The LRA also kidnapped 21 persons, including 10 children, in “highly mobile” attacks in Orientale province in north-eastern DRC, according to information released by OCHA. The victims were used as bearers to carry loot, and later freed.

“The continued attacks jeopardize humanitarian access and the supply of manufactured goods,” OCHA said.

Last month Roger Meece, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN peacekeeping force in the DRC (MONUSCO), told the Security Council that there had been some security successes in other parts of the country.

But Mr. Meece said that in Orientale the LRA continued to threaten civilians, using brutal tactics during cross-border movements between the DRC, the Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan.

“I believe the only strategy that will significantly reduce or eliminate the LRA as an ongoing threat in the region is one that focuses on the LRA leadership, three of whom are under indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC),” he said.

“That strategy, however, requires a broad effort that goes beyond MONUSCO’s scope and mandate, but which we are ready to support to the maximum extent possible.”