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More than 250 abducted in DRC
17/04/2008 17:15 - (SA)
Kampala - Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have abducted over 250 people in the past month in the jungles of the north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan where they are based, officials said on Thursday.
The LRA, a vicious bush army that has waged a 22-year rebellion in northern Uganda, beefs up its forces through abducting people, mostly the youth and children whom they use to carry loot and later force into their ranks.
The guerrillas fled from their southern Sudan bases in late 2004 into a game park in north-eastern Congo and their leader last week declined to sign a peace treaty that would put an end to the brutal war after nearly two years of delicate negotiations with the Ugandan government.
"The abductions are still going on. Our sources indicate that the LRA abducted 200 people, mainly children and women in the Congo about a month ago. They also made recent abductions in Sudan involving 55 people," said Uganda's military spokesperson, major Paddy Ankunda.
The peace talks mediated by the southern Sudanese government, have stalled and the LRA fighters who have also made incursions into the Central African Republic, are abducting the civilians, the United Nations has also said.
The girls abducted by the rebels are turned into sex slaves and have borne children in the bush and according to UN agencies, about 1 300 people, mostly children and women are still held by the rebels in their bush bases in the Congo.
The UN's children's agency Unicef estimates that about 25 000 children have been abducted by the LRA since the civil war began but that most escaped or were rescued from captivity by government forces. - Sapa-dpa
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