Uganda gunships kill 50 rebels
2002-07-05 19:40
Kampala - Over 50 Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels were killed in intensified bombardments by a helicopter gunship in several areas in northern Uganda, northern Uganda army spokesperson Lieutenant Paddy Ankunda claimed on Friday.
"Helicopter gunships have been up in the air bombarding bushes
and forests where a rebel group, which attacked the displaced
people's camp of Alero on Wednesday, had retreated," Ankunda said.
Ankunda said he could not rule out civilian casualties among
people who had been abducted by the insurgents, and were in the
group that came under attack.
"We have been bombarding their positions between Alero and
Kochgoma for the last two days, and I can state confidently that
the operation has been a success and that more than 50 enemies have been disposed off," he said.
"And as I am talking to you now, I can see one helicopter
gunship flying out to go and reinforce the one already in the air," Ankunda added.
The LRA rebels have been battling President Yoweri Museveni's
secular government for the past decade in what they say is a
campaign to replace it with an administration based on the biblical Ten Commandments. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA