Troops kill rebels, rescue kids
2004-01-06 15:17
Kampala - Ugandan troops killed 11 rebels and captured 18 others in heavy fighting involving attack helicopters near the border with Sudan, an army spokesperson said on Tuesday.
In a co-ordinated attack on Monday, ground troops supported by helicopter gunships attacked a camp used by the Lord's Resistance Army near Acuga, 300km north of Kampala, 2nd Lieutenant Chris Magezi, the regional army spokesperson, said. Government forces also rescued 20 children the rebels had used as child soldiers and concubines, he added.
"Those killed included two senior LRA commanders," Magezi said. "It was a joint operation involving ground and aerial forces."
A transport helicopter carrying supplies journalists to the scene on Tuesday crashed in the area after the pilot lost visibility and the tail rotor struck a tree, Major Shaban Bantariza, the army spokesperson in the capital, said. No one was injured in the mishap, he added.
"Fortunately, the chopper was already 20 metres above ground though, the rear rotor cut into some branches and shrubs as the pilot hovered around to land well, consequently damaging the rotor. The chopper finally landed," Bantariza said in a prepared statement.
The Lord's Resistance Army has fought to overthrow the Ugandan government for the last 17 years, fighting mostly in the northern half of the country. The group, which has little contact with the outside world, is best known for kidnapping thousands of children.
- AP