William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

A total of seven Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters were killed by the UPDF yesterday morning. Two of the rebels were killed southeast of Koch Ongako, while five were killed southeast of River Omee.

United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland today briefed the Security Council on humanitarian crises in Africa. In his brief, Egeland discussed at considerable length the emergency caused by the activities of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), calling for the international body to take measures to ensure civilian protection and to support resolution of the twenty-year conflict, Africa's longest-running.

The LRA have recently expanded their activities to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and have continued attacks in northern Uganda and southern Sudan, displacing nearly two million and disrupting the supply of emergency relief.

"In northern Uganda, gains are being lost as security erodes," Egeland noted.

Approximately 80% of the rebel army is composed of child soldiers, abducted from their homes and forced to fight. While the government of Uganda passed an amnesty law in 2000, officially forgiving any of the rebels who surrender, Egeland argued that conditions in the region have prevented many from returning to their homes.

"Given conditions in the camps, it is not surprising that so many LRA choose to stay in the bush," he said.

According to the U.N., 1.7 million people, more than 90% of the region's population, are confined to protected camps, yet remain vulnerable to nighttime LRA attacks as well as health problems. The World Health Organization recently reported that over 1000 people are dying weekly due to the war and camp conditions. The Ugandan military has been widely criticized for its lack of capacity to defend the population, and many international observers question the government's commitment to resolving the situation.

Egeland offered policy options to the world body, calling for investigations into the sources of LRA support and criticizing regional governments for their failure to protect civilians. Although the U.N. Security Council has not yet placed the issue on its agenda, thus preventing any form of U.N. political involvement, the British High Commissioner recently called for a hearing on the crisis.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

After many interviews carried out by Uganda-CAN in Gulu Municipality, it is clear that many are dissatisfied with the recent LRA request for peace talks. The community believes the peace talks request may be a means for the LRA to access food as has been done in part years. Many seem worried about losing their harvests to rebels during the dry season.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

Suspected Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels killed the LC1 chairman of Orwa B Ward in Kitgum District Thursday morning. Reports from the area say Mathew Obote, the local leader, was killed on Thurday morning by LRA rebels who also abducted two women.

William Bionx Akena, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Gulu town, reports -

Yesterday, UPDF 505 brigade commander Lt. Col George Magezi survived an ambush by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) along Gulu-Palaro road, just 25 miles north of the district in Aswa county. Lt. Col Magezi ran into three LRA rebels who were trying to cross the road between Patalira and Lugore. Meanwhile two LRA rebels were shot dead in Lira district. These two were identified as those who ambushed a vehicle in Lira killing eight civilians earlier this week.

A former Anglican Bishop from northern Uganda visited the diocese of Southwest Florida last week and spoke to assembled congregants about the war in Uganda, decrying both local and international neglect of the crisis.

"The situation in Northern Uganda is far worse than Darfur in Western Sudan. The international Community has called what is happening in Darfur 'genocide.' But the magnitude of pain and suffering that my people of Acholi and Northern Uganda are going through is unspeakable," the bishop, Rt. Rev. Macleod Ochola, said.

Bishop Ochola's personal history is inextricable from that of the war. In 1987, while away from the country with his wife, Ochola's daughter was brutally raped by rebel forces. Before the Bishop could return to be with his daughter, she committed suicide. Struggling to continue his stewardship of Christians in northern Uganda, he was devastated again in 1997 when a landmine, allegedly planted by the LRA, killed his wife just six miles from their home in Gulu town.

Ochola has been a member of the regional peace delegation, and has met face to face with Kony and other rebel leaders. He decries what he views as a lack of commitment from the government to ending the war. "The Government of Uganda has shown unwillingness and lack of political will to end the conflict either by its preferred military option or by peaceful dialogue... I can speak of Government of Uganda’s deliberate frustration of Mrs. Bigombe’s mediation efforts."

In response to his speech, the diocese passed a resolution to be sent to President Bush and Kofi Annan, calling on them to recognize the tragedy of northern Uganda as "genocide" and to respond appropriately.