8 killed in DRC park attack

2009-01-06 21:51

Dakar - Ugandan rebels waging one of Africa's longest and most brutal wars killed two wildlife rangers and six other people in a remote national park in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a conservation group said on Tuesday.

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels carried out the attack on the Garamba National Park headquarters at Nagero on January 2, WildlifeDirect said in a statement.

The dead also included two wives of park wardens, and 13 were hurt, most by bullets, the group said.

Last week, the DRC government said a joint offensive launched last month with the armies of Uganda and Sudan had routed Ugandan rebels from the park and forced them to flee the area toward neighbouring Central African Republic.

The LRA has fought for two decades and aid and rights groups have accused them of cutting off the lips of civilians and forcing thousands of children to serve as soldiers or sex slaves.

The conflict has spilled into Sudan and DRC, which suffered back-to-back civil wars from 1996 to 2002 that drew neighbouring countries into what became a rush to plunder Congo's massive mineral wealth.

Since December 25 in northeastern DRC, the Ugandan rebels have killed more than 400 people in a series of massacres, according to Catholic charity group Caritas, which cited its staff in the region.

Caritas said its employees identified the rebels by their dreadlocked hair and Acholi language.

'Narrowly escaped death'

"The headquarters in Nagero are in a state of havoc," WildlifeDirect cited chief warden Bernard Iyomi as saying.

The group said Iyomi "directed the resistance during the attack and ... narrowly escaped death".

Rebels destroyed several park buildings, communications equipment, fuel and food.

The remote Garamba park is home to elephant, giraffe, buffalo and hippo.

Long-running peace talks between the LRA and Uganda's government have stalled.

Rebel leaders have sought guarantees that they will not be arrested under international warrants.

The rebels' elusive leader, Joseph Kony, and other top members are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

- AP