Lord's Resistance Army insurgency

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Lord's Resistance Army insurgency
Date1987–present
(37 years)
Location
Northern Uganda (until 2006), South Sudan, eastern Congo-Kinshasha, Central African Republic
Status

Ongoing

  • Founder and leader of the LRA Joseph Kony goes into hiding
  • Senior LRA commander Dominic Ongwen surrenders to American forces in the Central African Republic and is tried at the Hague[7][8]
  • Majority of LRA installations and encampments located in South Sudan and Uganda abandoned and dismantled
  • Small scale LRA activity continues in eastern DR Congo, and the Central African Republic[1]
Belligerents

 Uganda
 DR Congo
 Central African Republic[1]
 South Sudan
 Arrow Boys
United Nations MONUC[2]
Supported by:

 United States
(2011–2017)[3][4][5]

Lord's Resistance Army
Supported by:

 Sudan (1994–2002)[6]
Commanders and leaders

Uganda Yoweri Museveni
Democratic Republic of the Congo Joseph Kabila
South Sudan Salva Kiir

United Nations Alan Doss

Joseph Kony
Vincent Otti Executed
Raska Lukwiya †
Okot Odiambo †
Dominic Ongwen Surrendered

Alphonse Lamola
Units involved

Uganda UPDF
Democratic Republic of the Congo FARDC
Central African Republic FACA
SPLA

United States SOF		 No specific units
Strength

2002:
Uganda 65,000–75,000[9]
2010:
Uganda 46,800[10]
2014:
Uganda 1,500[11]

United States 300 advisers[12]

1990:
200–800[13]
1998:
6,000[13]
2007:
500–3,000[14]
2014:

240[15]
Casualties and losses
Unknown ~600 killed (2009–2010)[16][16]

100,000+ killed[17]

400,000[18]–430,000+[19] displaced

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is a current guerrilla movement. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) insurgency started in 1987.[20] As of 2020, the LRA is somewhat active in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. Joseph Kony leads the movement. He says he is "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium. The movement does not want Yoweri Museveni and his government in Uganda. They want to start a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.[21][22]

The conflict is one of the longest in Africa. It has started a humanitarian crisis. The International Criminal Court says that the LRA has violated human rights. This includes mutilation, torture, slavery, rape, the abduction (kidnapping) of civilians, the use of child soldiers, and a number of massacres.[23] By 2004, the LRA had abducted more than 20,000 children. 1.5 million civilians had to move. The LRA killed about 100,000 civilians.[24]

Background[change | change source]

In January 1986, the National Resistance Army (NRA) of south-west Uganda born Yoweri Museveni overthrew President Tito Okello, an ethnic Acholi. This started a period of unrest. When they tried to liberate the whole country, the NRA were responsible of many atrocities on the people of Acholi. This made some Acholis want to fight against these acts. Reports sometimes say that the Acholi were afraid to lose their traditional (usual) control of the national military. They were also very worried that the NRA would want retribution for the violent counterinsurgency, especially the actions of the army in the Luwero triangle.[25][26] By August 1986, a complete popular insurgency had started in northern regions that the new government soldiers occupied.

References[change | change source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "New Vision Online : LRA rebels clashes with CAR forces". Newvision.co.ug. 8 October 2010. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "Guatemalan blue helmet deaths stir Congo debate – Democratic Republic of the Congo". Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 16 June 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ "Obama orders U.S. troops to help chase down African 'army' leader". CNN. 18 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Arieff, Alexis; Ploch, Lauren (15 May 2014). "The Lord's Resistance Army: The U.S. Response" (PDF). fas.org. Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "U.S. Ends hunt for Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on 20 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  6. ↑ People & Power. "The LRA and Sudan". Al Jazeera English. Archived from the original on 18 March 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "US forces hold LRA commander". BBC News. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 3 February 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "Lord's Resistance Army commanded tried at the Hague". The Guardian. TheGuardian.com. 26 January 2015. Archived from the original on 26 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Armed forces – Uganda". www.nationsencyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  10. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies; Hackett, James (ed.) (2010-02-03). The Military Balance 2010. London: Routledge.
  11. ↑ "Hunting the LRA in Central Africa". VOA. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "- The Washington Post". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 20 January 2017. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Uppsala conflict data expansion. Non-state actor information. Codebook Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine Archived 21 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine pp. 206–209
  14. ↑ IRIN • humanitarian news and analysis from Africa, Asia and the Middle East – updated daily Archived 22 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine 30 May 2007. Accessed 3 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "Joseph Kony's LRA rebels on the run, focusing on survival". Cbc.ca. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "CONFLICT BAROMETER 2010" (PDF). Hiik.de. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Uganda (1987– 2010)". Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Uganda Civil War". www.globalsecurity.org. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  19. ↑ January 25, 2012, OCHA, "LRA Regional Update: Central African Republic, DR Dongo and South Sudan: January–December 2011."
  20. ↑ JAMES C. MCKINLEY JR. (1 April 1996). "Uganda's Christian Rebels Revive War in North". New York Times.
  21. ↑ Ruddy Doom and Koen Vlassenroot (1999). "Kony's message: A new Koine? The Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda". African Affairs. 98 (390): 5–36. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a008002. S2CID 111914560.
  22. ↑ "Interview with Vincent Otti, LRA second in command" Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine and " A leadership based on claims of divine revelations" Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine in IRIN In Depth, June 2007.
  23. ↑ International Criminal Court (14 October 2005). Warrant of Arrest unsealed against five LRA Commanders Archived 18 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 10 June 2008.
  24. ↑ "BBC NEWS – Programmes – From Our Own Correspondent – Forgiveness for Uganda's former rebels". News.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 October 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  25. ↑ Doom, R. and K. Vlassenroot. "Kony's message: a new koine? The Lord's Resistance Army in Northern Uganda," African Affairs 98 (390), p. 9
  26. ↑ Martin Plaut (6 February 2004). "BBC NEWS – World – Africa – Profile: Uganda's LRA rebels". BBC News. Archived from the original on 23 October 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
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