CAIRO: A source at AFRICOM told Bikyamasr.com that Ugandan troops have stepped up efforts to hunt down rebels headed by fugitive Joseph Kony, whose fighters have preyed on the region for more than two decades. Ugandan troops will head a new regional force, made up of troops from South Sudan, the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, to hunt the rebel fighters, who are holed up in the jungles of the Central African Republic, said Col. Flexi Kulayigye, Uganda's army and defense spokesman. “A Ugandan commander has already been appointed to head the regional force of 5,000 troops.” The regional force, which is backed by the African Union, will be able to operate across the borders of the regional states in the hunt for Kony, said Kulayigye. The new force will augment at least 4,000 US-backed Ugandan troops currently in the Central African Republic hunting for the rebel leader—indicted by the International Criminal Court—whose forces are blamed for abducting at least 30,000 children from northern Uganda in the past two decades. Last week, the Ugandan government accused former adversary, Congo, of restricting Ugandan troops from entering its northeastern territories, slowing the hunt for the rebels. Although Congo has indicated that its troops have the capacity to deal with the remnants of Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, diplomats said its ill-equipped army is no match for the battle-hardened LRA fighters, who have spread their terror campaign in recent weeks, displacing thousands of locals in Congo. The intensified effort follows a recent Internet campaign aimed at spurring Kony's capture. A 30-minute Internet video, “Kony 2012,” released in early March, has become the most viral video in Internet history, registering some 137.2 million views by the end of last week. “Kony 2012,” produced by Invisible Children Inc., a San Diego-based nonprofit organization, focuses on the LRA leader, who is accused of recruiting children into sexual slavery and using them to wage a violent campaign to topple Uganda's government. The film features Invisible Children co-founder Jason Russell, who relates Kony's atrocities against children to his young son, Gavin. According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the LRA has resumed attacks after a six-month lull, carrying out some 20 raids in the past two months in northeastern Congo, leaving at least 10 people dead and around 3,000 displaced. Ugandan troops in the Central African Republic are backed by at least 100 US military advisers deployed last year by President Barack Obama. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/HhCS6 Tags: AFRICOM, Kony 2012, Lord's Reisitence Army, Uganda Section: Africa, Latest News
