The army has accused LRA rebels of ambushing its liaison officer in Juba, Major Richard Otto, in what they call a violation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement. The UPDF spokesman, Maj. Felix Kulayigye, said in a statement that the incident, which occurred on Thursday, took place 20km from Juba, on the Juba-Nisitu road, and 60km West of Owiny-ki-Bul, one of the assembly areas. The LRA peace delegation spokesman, Obonyo Olweny, described the UPDF claims as "absolute trash." Read more at The New Vision.

The Cessation of Hostilities monitoring team yesterday rejected allegations by the LRA that UPDF is closing in on the rebels' hideout in Garamba in the DR Congo. "The claim that the UPDF is 10 miles from Garamba is not true," the head of the team, Maj. Gen. Wilson Deng said. This follows earlier allegations that the UPDF planned to attack the rebels on Christmas Day. The monitoring team also established that the recent ambushes on the Nimule-Juba road and the Juba-Torit road, which had been attributed to the LRA, were the work of a militia allied to the Khartoum government. They further disclosed that although the LRA had not yet assembled within the agreed perimeters of Owiny Ki-Bul, they were in the vicinity. Read more at The New Vision.

The Sudanese army has refuted reports on the arrest of 15 soldiers by the SPLA in October for a string of attacks that left at least 38 civilians dead in Juba. The 15 soldiers were accused of trying to derail the ongoing peace talks between the Government of Uganda and LRA, mediated by the Government of South Sudan. A Sudanese army official pointed out that following that attack on the area by men first believed to be LRA rebels, fifteen members of the Armed Forces went to check out what had happened to their families there, but upon arriving there they found that the SPLA troops were deployed and were subsequently arrested. However on the intervention of Lieutenant General Salva Kiir they were released and were taken back to their respective units in the Joint Forces in Juba. Read more at The Sudan Tribune.

President Museveni has assured Ugandans that soon peace will prevail all over the country because all the warring groups have been chased out of Uganda and they cannot return. The task at hand, he said on Saturday, is to handle the remnants of insecurity in Karamoja. John Odyek reports that Museveni said this on Saturday during a thanksgiving service under the theme "Counting our Blessings" held at State House in Nakasero. Read more at The New Vision.

Four Ugandan traders were on Tuesday hacked to death by suspected LRA rebels in a string of road ambushes along Torit-Juba road in South Sudan, the army reported yesterday. UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye accused the rebels of using 'Kafunis' (small hoes) to smash or hack the heads of their victims. The deceased have not yet been identified. He accused the rebels of ambushing three lorries, looting merchandise and later burning them. The leader of the government delegation in the Juba peace talks Ruhakana Rugunda said the incident would not affect the resumption of peace talks scheduled for today. Read more at The Monitor.

Gladys Oromo, Uganda-CAN news correspondent in Uganda, reports that the LRA's second-in-command Vincent Otti has said the UPDF in collaboration with the southern Sudan army (SPLA), the United Nations peacekeeping force in Congo and Congolese militias are planning to arrest the top LRA commanders indicted by the International Criminal Court. He said the LRA are committed to the peace talks in Juba and are also ready to protect them if they come to attack them. However, the government and UPDF dismissed Otti’s claims. The State Minister for Defence, Ruth Nankabirwa said they are serious with the peace talks in Juba and wondered how again they can arrest them. Otti has asked for more lawyers to educate him and the LRA High Command about their ICC indictments.

Resistance to the UPDF’s forcible disarmament program in Karamoja has led to a marked escalation of violence in this northeastern region of Uganda during the past five weeks. 150 people have been killed and 1000 others displaced during fighting between military forces and Karamajong warriors since violence erupted in late October. Military “cordon and search” operations have destroyed homesteads and granaries and resulted in the death of thousands of cattle, disrupting livelihoods in one of Uganda’s poorest regions. UPDF soldiers and Karamajong warriors have been implicated in gross human rights abuses during the fighting, including extrajudicial executions, rape, illegal arrests and detentions, torture, forced labor and extortion of money.

Calls from Karamajong leaders for a review of the UPDF’s disarmament programme have been ignored by the Ugandan government, and yesterday Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that cordon and search operations to disarm the Karimojong would be intensified. Uganda-CAN calls on the Ugandan government to urgently review the disarmament program in Karamoja and work with Karamajong leaders to reduce arms proliferation and stabilize the region. Click here to read more about the continuing violence in Karamoja.

David Wakikona, the Northern Reconstruction Minister, said last week that money earmarked for Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) in Lira district is being mismanaged. NUSAF was designed by the Ugandan government to jumpstart development and reconstruction in northern Uganda, but many critics say that chronic insecurity and mismanagement of funds has prevented it from having any real effect on the ground. Read more at The New Vision.