LRA hostages go hungry as militants flee

2012-02-14 09:15

Kampala - A Ugandan military commander says women and children abducted by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army are suffering from hunger because the wanted band of fighters has stopped stealing food from villages to avoid detection.

Colonel Joseph Balikkudembe said on Monday that some women and children have died from hunger while in the custody of the LRA, though he did not provide any death tolls. He said pregnant women and children under 10 were suffering the most.

Wanted LRA leader Joseph Kony, whose army abducts children and takes women as sex slaves, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

The US sent about 100 troops to Central Africa last year to help in the hunt for Kony.

- AP