Post date: Nov 21, 2013 1:43:40 PM
The UN Special Representative for Central Africa Abou Moussa has said that military operations have degraded the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and limited it to pursuing survival tactics. AU Special Envoy for LRA Issues Francisco Madeira said LRA Leader Joseph Kony "is on the run."
UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK (UNTV) - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Central Africa, Abou Moussa, has said that military operations have severely weakened Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
In a report presented to the Security Council Moussa, however, added that recent attacks in South Sudan mean that the group remains a threat to peace in the region.The report called on the international community to provide the resources needed to combat the LRA.
"With critical support from US military advisers, Regional Task Force contingents are now fully operational. Military operations have degraded the LRA and limited it to pursuing survival tactics. However, recent attacks in South Sudan attributed to the LRA are a reminder that the group remains a serious and unpredictable threat to communities throughout the sub-region," said Moussa.
Also addressing the Council, Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis of the United States noted that the LRA, formed in the 1990s had killed, kidnapped and mutilated tens of thousands of people.
"Since its founding more than a quarter century ago, the Lord's Resistance Army has been a constant source of terror and suffering. Tens of thousands of Africans have died because of its rapacious violence and countless young people have been compelled to serve as underage soldiers and sex slaves. We commend the progress achieved against the LRA over the past several months and welcome the renewed vigour with which a number of regional and international partners have taken on the LRA threat. We would all like to see the day when Joseph Kony and those indicted with him are brought to justice and we can pronounce the LRA a thing of the past," added Ambassador DeLaurentis.
The African Union formally designated the LRA, as a terrorist group in 2011.
LRA leader Joseph Kony has been indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
LRA commanders have been operating in the wild and largely lawless border regions of the DRC,Central African Republic (CAR) and South Sudan in recent years.
The CAR government has been in contact with Kony and his fighters to urge them to surrender, but Kony's whereabouts are still unknown, the United Nations and the African Union said.
Outside the Council, Moussa was joined by the African Union Special Envoy for LRA Issues, Ambassador Francisco Madeira, who nevertheless indicated that Kony is on the run.
"Joseph Kony is on the run. We give him no reprieve. He's been moving effectively as Ambassador Moussa said, between the borders of Darfur, Darfur itself, and Central African Republic, but definitely he is no longer in peace and is feeling the pinch thanks to the pressure that the Regional Task Force is putting on him and thanks to the operation to encourage his men and all those who are with him to defect. And a good number of them are defecting," said Madeira.
A Ugandan-led offensive late in 2008 targeted guerrilla hideouts in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo dispersing LRA fighters but failing to strike the rebels' top commanders.
A 5,000-strong Africa Union Regional Task Force, supported by about 1000 U.S. Special Froces has been hunting Kony and his fighters.