An editorial in today's Daily Monitor argues that the recent spate of LRA attacks on humanitarian organizations in northern Uganda strengthens the case for renewed peace talks between the rebels and the Ugandan government. The author points out that because a military solution to the problem is unlikely to be successful, peace talks and reconciliation must be pursued with renewed vigor.

The editorial also discusses some of the potential consequences of the attacks, such as decreased humanitarian aid to IDPs and delays in implementing plans to decongest IDP camps and remove land mines from the war zone. Read more here.

The Daily Vision reports that the UPDF has claimed to kill about twelve LRA rebels in Kitgum, Pader, and Lira districts in the past week.

In today's Daily Monitor, Brenda Kamulegeya writes a provocative Op/Ed, titled "Consider north as your own tragedy," in which she calls on all Ugandans to act for peace in their own country. She writes, "Enough is enough: This is the message that was passed on to the world on Saturday, October 22, 2005 during the International Gulu Walk day. 41 cities around the globe participated including Kampala and Gulu."

She further writes, "The time to act is now. This calls for renewed effort from all including Government, civil society, intellectuals, students, the general public and the world at large. It is not enough that we raise awareness and fundraise for the "night commuters" in Northern Uganda It is time to seek peace as well. Reconciliation should be our driving force. How long shall the Northern region continue to be raged by war and suffering? We all have a stake in this issue and it is high time each one of us played a role lest history judges us." Read more here.

Reuters AlertNet reports that relief agencies working in northern Uganda are halting their operations following the recent attacks on aid workers by suspected Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels. Various relief agencies had also decided to limit their work to towns and protected camps for internally displaced people. These included Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontiers-Holland (MSF-Holland) and Christian Children's Fund (CCF).

However, President Yoweri Museveni, whose government has been fighting the LRA for nearly two decades, urged humanitarian workers not to "panic", saying the insurgency was almost ended. "We are going to handle those robbers," Museveni told reporters at a news conference in the capital, Kampala, on Thursday. "Those (LRA) are very small groups, they are more or less like robbers."

The IRIN News Service of the United Nations has given updated information on the humanitarian aid workers killed yesterday in northern Uganda.

Three separate attacks on aid workers in the region resulted in the death of the two individuals on Wednesday and the injury of four others, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. OCHA said one of the dead was a staff member from the NGO Caritas. He was shot dead in an ambush as he rode on a motor with a colleague about 8 km north of Kitgum town. The second was killed in neighbouring Pader District when suspected LRA rebels ambushed aid workers from the Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD), killing one and critically injuring two.

On Tuesday, a vehicle belonging to the Christian Children's Fund (CCF) had been attacked in Okwango, Lira District. Two CCF staff were injured in that attack - one of whom was in intensive care. "The vehicle, which carried CCF-Uganda identification, was reportedly sprayed with bullets," OCHA added.

Reacting to the attacks, the British charity Oxfam expressed deep concern that the ICC warrants might actually prolong the conflict in which the LRA claims to be fighting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's government. Click here for more.

Three seperate attacks on aid workers have taken place in three different districts yesterday and today in northern Uganda in what appear to be coordinated activities of the Lord's Resistance Army.

The attacks took place on workers of Christian Children's Fund, Caritas, and ACORD. Two of the attacks were within ten kilometers of Pader and Kitgum town centers. Two people have been confirmed dead and another two injured. All UN staff have suspended their activities.

The New Vision reports that the Lord Resistance Army’s deputy Vincent Otti, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), yesterday called MP Odonga Otto (Aruu) to inquire about his fate.

Otto said Otti called him at about 11:15am from an undisclosed location. He said he sounded depressed after Otto told him that the international community was looking for him following the issuance of arrest warrants against him and four other top LRA commanders.

Meanwhile, LRA rebels killed eight people yesterday in the eastern DR Congo, in the Garama national park.

The Daily Monitor reports that people in the northeast West Nile region of Uganda have expressed panic at the ease and swiftness with which the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels sneaked over vast areas of South Sudan into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Questions are arising over the competence of Uganda's intelligence to detect and forestall subversive activities.

That a whole band of 370 fighters of LRA led by their much-feared Deputy Commander, Lt. Gen. Vincent Otti could pass via the SPLA-controlled South Sudan safely is baffling because Uganda has been a longtime ally of the SPLA, who surely couldn't have aided the rebels. Many have pointed fingers at the Sudanese government

In fact, Ugandan intelligence officials say that a Sudanese government Antanov plane dropped supplies to the bandits at Dimo as they relocated to Congo, through Kagulu - southwest of Yei town. Read more on these unfolding dynamics here.

AllAfrica reports that Gang Obong Obur, a documentary about northern Uganda directed by Ugandan filmmaker Robby Wodomal, won the inaugural Golden Impala Award at the second annual Amakula Kampala International Film Festival. Gang Obong Obur, which means "Our Homes Have Become Ghost Villages" in the local Luo language, was filmed in Kitgum district. It focuses on the night commuters in the area who walk into Kitgum town each night, and also highlights abducted children, inadequate humanitarian aid, and the difficult process of amnesty.

Uganda-CAN congratulates Mr. Wodomal on his prize, and thanks him for his efforts "to tell what the people have lost because of the war." Read more about Gang Obong Obur here.

Nearly 300 people walked through the pouring rain in Washington, DC for the Global GuluWalk day. Participants set off from the Ugandan embassy and processed more than four miles to a vigil on the lawn of the White House. They were joined by tens of thousands of other GuluWalkers in more than 40 cities around the world.

As participants streamed into a park for the vigil after the walk, they were greeted by the sound of Uganda's night commuter children singing at a center in Gulu town, recorded by Uganda-CAN team members in June. Though the rain did not make for an enjoyable walk, participants were reminded by speakers at the vigil that the children make such walks every night and every morning, often with little food, no shoes, and propelled by terror and fear.

Speakers at the vigil included Chief Peace Mediator Betty Bigombe, Ambassador Edith Ssempala, and former child soldier Charles Bongomin. On a hopeful note, Bigombe reiterated to the crowd that her efforts to mediate would continue; even though recent indictments for top LRA leaders from the International Criminal Court make negotiations difficult, there remains an urgent need to reach out to mid- and lower-level LRA.

Walk organizers hope that the event will spark an international constituency committed to seeing an end to the unnecessary suffering in northern Uganda.

The UN News Service reports that attacks on civilians in southern Sudan by elements of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) remain a major concern of humanitarian agencies operating in the area.

Humanitarian access to affected areas remains limited, preventing agencies from forming a clear picture of the numbers of affected populations and delivering much-needed assistance to them, according to the mission, known by its acronym UNAMIS.

Northern Uganda is currently being featured on Hot Zone, a project recently launched by Yahoo! to report on current conflicts around the world. Visit the Hot Zone website to read dispatches from northern Uganda and see video clips and photo journals of night commuters and HIV/AIDS victims in northern Uganda:
background to the conflict
night commuters
HIV/AIDS in northern Uganda

The New Vision reports that two UPDF soldiers were shot dead on Friday when Lord's Resistance Army rebels ambushed the convoy of the UPDF 79th Battalion commanding officer, Lt. Col. John Byoma, on the Yei-Maridi road in Sudan.

Army spokesman for West Nile Capt. Anech Mubangizi said between 30 and 40 rebels, part of the group that fled from the DR Congo under pressure from Congolese and the UN peacekeepers, staged the 4:00pm ambush. They burnt a military car.

Act for Stolen Children, working on the international GuluWalk Day set for October 22, has released a 60-second promotional video for the historic event. Watch the moving video now by clicking here!

During the two decades of history to the conflict in northern Uganda, one of the central challenges that has likely led to the prolongation of violence has been the lack of civic engagement about the war from normal Ugandans, especially in the South, where political activity is centered. Northern and southern Uganda in many ways are two very distinct entities.

The Forum for Democratic Change, Uganda's leading opposition party, has released its positions on how to navigate the path to a future stable peace. Uganda-CAN does not endorse any political party or candidate, but merely wishes to see that the war, and the suffering it is causing, becomes an election issue.

Read below for the full platform of the FDC regarding the path to peace in Uganda.

» Read More

The BBC News Service reports that the Sudanese government has given the Ugandan army unlimited access to fight Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels based in Sudan. The move follows last week's indictment of five LRA rebels by the International Criminal Court.

Until now the army could not go beyond a so-called "red line", about 100km (62 miles) into Sudanese territory. The Khartoum government backed the LRA until the end of Sudan's civil war, but the rebels remain active - their latest attack was reportedly on Friday. Read more here.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that the Lord's Resistance Army has expanded its operations into a third country, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

CSM reports, "Despite losing key backing from the Sudanese government in the past year, the LRA has managed to continue its fight by taking advantage of distrust between neighboring governments and their weak control over war-torn areas. Observers say the rebel expansion into Congo requires stepped up regional cooperation and military force to prevent any further instability in this volatile corner of Africa."

John Prendergast of the International Crisis Group said, "The LRA's opening of a potential new front in DRC will further destabilize extremely tense regional relations unless [UN forces] and the Congolese Army move quickly to address this threat. The end [of the LRA insurgency] is within sight, but will require much more coordinated action by regional governments, the UN peacekeepers in Congo and Sudan, and other external actors led by the US."

Nzau Musau writes about the complex history of the war in northern Uganda in an op-ed for the Kenya Times this week. The article traces the genesis of the war to the violent seizure of power in Uganda by Yoweri Museveni and the NRA in 1986 and the subsequent suffering of northern Ugandans. It follows the meandering path of the conflict over the past 19 years, highlighting the variety of actors responsible for its perpetuation and the suffering borne by the civilians of northern Uganda as a result.

Although accosting the LRA and Sudanese government for perpetuating the conflict, Nzau also recognizes the role of Pres. Museveni and the UPDF in both causing and failing to prevent further suffering of the people of northern Uganda, ending the op-ed with this powerful statement- "Museveni may have powerful friends who consider him one of the more enlightened Africa leaders but for as long as the north burns, such credentials will continue to sound hollow to a people who have seen so much needless blood letting. They do not deserve it." Read more here.

Today's Daily Vision reports that a LRA commander killed last week during an attack in the Teso region has been identified as Brigadier Dominic Ongwen, the top Uganda-based LRA commander. The attacks, killing several people and burning homes of IDPs, came as a surprise because of a relative lack of LRA activity in the area recently and have caused fears of an impending upsurge of LRA attacks.

The New Vision reports that the LRA rebel deputy chief, Vincent Otti, has fled the Garamba jungles of Congo to the Ariwara hills as over 200 Congolese soldiers deployed to forcefully disarm his troops.

Military sources in the southern Sudanese town of Yei said Otti fled northward and on Tuesday morning settled on the Congo side of the border with Sudan in the hills at Kirkwa, about 32km from Yei. The rebels were reportedly moving northward to avoid the heavy deployment of a joint SPLA and UPDF force on the Yei-Juba road and were probably planning to cross north of Juba back to their former bases in Sudan.

They had to leave their new haven following enormous pressure from the Congolese government, the UN mission in Congo (MONUC) and the international community to surrender or face a forceful disarmament.

Uganda has already massed hundreds of soldiers on the border and teamed with the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) in Sudan to fight the LRA. Uganda has also threatened to send its army into Congo if the rebels were not disarmed.

Reuters AlertNet reports that the recent spate of attacks on civilians in northern and eastern Uganda by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has raised new fears about increasing violence in the the brutal 19-year old conflict. Archbishop John Baptist Odama said that the war is "not yet over."

"We have in the past been hoodwinked that rebel activities were on the wane, only [for such activities] to resurface with renewed vigour and brutality. Widespread attacks in many areas are not the signs of a group weakened," Archbishop John Baptist Odama said on Wednesday.

"I have just returned from touring camps around the district of Kitgum, and the people are telling us that the LRA is there but the rebels are quiet," Odama told IRIN from Gulu town, 380 km north of the capital, Kampala.

The Ugandan army spokesman, Lt-Col Shaban Bantariza, confirmed the recent attacks but said there were no fatalities, adding that the army was investigating whether the attackers were actually LRA rebels.

Odama urged Ugandan military commanders and government security officials to stop what he called "provocative statements".

"Whenever our officials, like commanders, make statements like 'we have defeated these people,' they [the LRA] respond by carrying out some attacks and the people are the ones suffering," he said.

An analyst, however, said the LRA could be attempting to wear down the Ugandan army by deploying widely in smaller groups that were more difficult to track down.

"The LRA's strategic moves are unclear but it seems the strategy is to keep the government forces as stretched as possible," Fred Guweddeko, a researcher at Kampala's Makerere University Institute of Social Research, said. "Moves into new and old areas where they have been operating are not meant to capture territory."

He added: "The LRA tactics are meant to keep the government forces on the move because the rebels move in small groups of 10 to 20 people - a strategy to weaken the government forces by whatever means without actually confronting them."

On Monday, a group of LRA rebels ambushed a pick-up vehicle in Kitgum district, some 450 km from Kampala, killing five people and injuring at least two others. Read more here.

The Daily Monitor reports that MONUC, the United Nations peace mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has issued a new ultimatum to rebels of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army who recently crossed into the vast neighbouring country.

Maj. Gachinya Mpozayo, a commander of the UN forces, told a joint cross-border security meeting of Congolese and Ugandan officials late on Monday that MONUC had already deployed a battalion of its troops in Abaa area within the vicinity of Garamba National Park where the rebels have hideouts. “If they (rebels) fail to surrender within a week, we shall fight and arrest them,” he said.

Mpozayo, flanked by Ms Anne-laurre SANS, the political affairs officer of MONUC in Aru territory, said they would soon get a grip of the LRA rebels who recently crossed from South Sudan to Oriental province in DRC, reportedly under the patronage of Vincent Otti, the LRA second overall commander.

Daily Monitor has learnt that the Ugandan army has established a tactical command detach somewhere along the Congo border as reports trickled in that the LRA rebels hiding in the neighbouring country could outnumber the original 400 figure put by MONUC and DRC officials. Read more here.

BBC reports that LRA rebels ambushed a truck carrying civilians in Kitgum district yesterday, killing four people. The rebel attack, coming in the early afternoon, was a rare example of LRA daytime activity. In the past week the LRA has also attacked Gulu district and Teso region. They burned down 200 homes in Teso, which has been largely free from LRA attacks for two years.

The New Vision reports that hundreds of people in Teso are leaving their villages for internally-displacement people's (IDP) camps after an attack by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the area. Residents of Angica and Iyalakwe IDP camps in Amuria District said rebels attacked the camps Wednesday and Friday morning.

The rebels, who reportedly numbered about 50, burnt over 30 huts. A 14-year-old boy and a four-year-old girl are believed to have been abducted and are still missing.

Soroti RDC Musa Ecweru, who is also co-ordinator of the Arrow Boys Group, an army of local vigilantes that has been protecting the people, attributed the attack to negligence. He said the UPDF were informed of the LRA infiltration long before the attack.

“The indicators of LRA’s presence in Teso surfaced two weeks ago but top UPDF officers kept rubbishing it,” Ecweru said.

He said the UPDF was aware that the LRA had split into three groups. One of the groups, under Vincent Otti, recently crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo. The other remained with LRA commander Joseph Kony in southern Sudan, while another has been launching isolated attacks in parts of Pader District. It’s this same group, he said, which attacked Obalanga, Ecweru said.