A Failed Military Operation In The Congo Results In The Killing Of Hundreds Of Civilians

Self-defense: Many towns in northern Congo have created self-defense groups because they didn’t feel protected by Congo’s Army or the United Nations peacekeeping forces. They often operate with self-built weaponry. Marc Hofer

Brutal Retreat Of LRA Rebels In Congo
-- Christian Science Monitor

The joint mission to finish off the notorious Lord's Resistance Army has led to more than 900 deaths and displaced more than 1,330 civilians since it began nearly two months ago.

Ngilima, Democratic Republic of Congo - Nelson Ngamu is so weak that he can barely stand up.

Up until he was captured by Congolese troops three days earlier, Mr. Ngamu was a foot soldier in one of Africa's most brutal rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). He was abducted from his village in South Sudan at age 12. After watching LRA rebels kill his family, over the next 11 years, he was transformed from a prepubescent farmer's son into a confessed murderer.

Now, nearly two months after a US-backed military mission to finish off the LRA, Sudanese, Congolese, and Ugandan commanders of the joint operation say the rebels are slowly starving to death, losing contact with their leadership, and running out of ammunition. But fresh details from soldiers involved in the operation, former LRA abductees, and local villagers reveal that success is coming at a heavy price.

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More News On The Civil War In Congo

Push on LRA rebels 'catastrophic' -- BBC News
Many Congolese Flee to Southern Sudan -- Voice Of America
Carnage as US-backed Congo Raid Fails -- Military.com
Attacks of 'appalling brutality' in DR Congo: UN -- AFP
Ugandan President blames 900 civilian deaths in DRC on UN peacekeeping force -- China View
UN says rebel hunt disaster for Congolese but must go on -- Reuters
UN envoy visits scene of Congo massacre -- AP
Survivors of Ugandan rebel massacres in DR Congo seek help from UN -- UN News Center

LRA Rebels Fleeing Towards Central African Republic

An LRA rebel keep vigil at Ri-kwangba near Garamba forest in April 2008. Remnants of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army are fleeing towards Central African Republic having been routed by a three-nation military operation, a Congolese official said Friday. (AFP/File/Tony Karumba)

From Yahoo News/AFP:

KINSHASA (AFP) – Remnants of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army are fleeing towards Central African Republic having been routed by a three-nation military operation, a Congolese official said Friday.

The Ugandan rebel force, which is being tracked down by Congolese, Ugandan and Sudanese troops, has suffered heavy losses in fighting that has uprooted tens of thousands of people, Joseph Bangakya, deputy governor of the northeastern Orientale province, told AFP.

"The LRA has been routed," said Bangakya, whose vast and isolated province spanning the Ugandan and Sudanese borders has been the target of the military operation that began in mid-December.

But Bangui authorities said there was no sign the rebels had crossed into their country, even as they announced their were reinforcing security on their border with DR Congo.

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