The New Vision is reporting that LRA rebels have attacked the Congolese town of Duru near the border of Sudan, causing thousands of people to flee. According to the Missionary International Service News Agency (MINSA), a group of rebels reportedly attacked the town, a few dozen kilometers from the southern Sudan border, looting the local Comboni mission, hospital and the house of the sisters and briefly holding hostage an Italian priest. Father Fermo Bernasconi said the attack was unprecedented. Since the Ugandan rebels arrived in Congolese territory about two years ago and settled in Garamba National Park, no actions against the civil population were reported. However, local sources told MISNA that the UN peacekeepers in Congo have stepped up pressure on the rebels. The Ugandan army said it has no knowledge of the events.

The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) in northern Uganda were reportedly on high alert on Christmas yesterday as the war-affected region celebrated Christmas. "We have increased our border and security alertness in northern Uganda during this festive season in case of any unforeseen circumstances," regional army spokesman Lt. Kakurungu said yesterday. These deployments follow recent intelligence reports that the LRA rebels were planning to cause havoc in the war-affected region. Gulu RDC Walter Ochora told the media last week in Gulu that LRA leader Joseph Kony was planning to wage a fresh military offensive. However, Ochora's sources and claims have not been confirmed. Read more at The Monitor.

The Ugandan government revealed this week that 700 police officers are awaiting deployment to Uganda’s northeastern region of Karamoja. As recently as August 2006 only 137 police officers were stationed in Karamoja to cover the vast region and protect its one million inhabitants. In September Human Rights Watch called for the police force in Karamoja to be bolstered in an effort to address chronic insecurity and human rights abuses caused by rampant armed cattle raiding and the Ugandan military’s excessive forcible disarmament program in the region. Read more at The Monitor.

Highlighting the root causes of cyclical violence in Karamoja (to which a bolstered police force is only a partial solution), a gathering of Ugandan elders and political leaders last weekend stated that a national legacy of uneven and unequal development and political intolerance lies at the heart of the conflict. Read more at The Monitor.

The Independent Online is running a special piece on Uganda’s northeastern region of Karamoja today, highlighting the continued insecurity and extreme poverty in the region. The proliferation of small arms among civilians, violent government disarmament programs and poor governance have led the region to have the highest malnutrition and child mortality rates in the country. UNICEF official Jeremy England said that the region is in “chronic emergency” and that the ongoing Juba peace talks will fail to bring peace to northern Uganda unless efforts are made to address insecurity in Karamoja. Read more at The Independent Online.

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The Sunday Monitor reports that Joseph Kony's only living brother, Robert Oulanya, has joined the LRA rebels in Garamba Park after living for years with their mother in Kampala. Gulu District RDC Walter Ochora told the press: "Oulanya has now officially joined his brother Kony and is already in Garamba in military uniform...We are wondering how a person can join the LRA at this time when he has been living under the care of State House. Kony actually gave Otti's wife to Oulanya." Two months ago, Oulanya reportedly travelled to Kenya by bus and then arranged travel to the rebel group's base. Kony and his brother were first reunited in December 2006 by a goodwill gesture of President Museveni. This news comes amidst uncertainty around Kony's disposition toward the historic peace negotiations in Juba. Read more at The Monitor.