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From: [log in to unmask] 
To: [log in to unmask] ; [log in to unmask] 
Cc: [log in to unmask] 
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 2:55 AM
Subject: Rebels in Uganda Kill 15 in Refugee Camp


Rebels in Uganda Kill 15 in Refugee Camp

By HENRY WASSWA
.c The Associated Press 

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) - Rebels attacked a refugee camp in northeastern Uganda on Thursday, killing 15 people, including four guards, a Roman Catholic priest said.

Lord's Resistance Army rebels armed with guns and machetes attacked the camp early in the morning, Athanasius Mubiru said. The town is a trading center 168 miles northeast of Kampala.

At least 16 people were seriously wounded, he said. The attackers burned down a small army camp and stole cows.

The four slain guards were members of the Arrow Boys, a civilian defense force largely made up of former soldiers. The Arrow Boys were created by the government two months ago in response to increasing rebel attacks in northeastern Uganda.

Edward Masiga, the commissioner of the Soroti district, where Odudui is located, confirmed the attack but said that only two Arrow Boys were killed.

The rebels rarely speak to journalists and could not be reached for comment.

Led by Joseph Kony, who claims to have spiritual powers that can protect his fighters, the Lord's Resistance Army is a shadowy organization that has been fighting President Yoweri Museveni since he came to power in 1986.

The group replenishes its ranks with children it abducts to use as fighters, porters or concubines.

The rebellion has wreaked havoc across northern Uganda. The rebels have launched attacks in eastern Uganda as well, forcing some 300,000 people to flee their homes since June, according to the U.N. World Food Program.

The insurgency has displaced some 1.1 million Ugandans out of the country's 24 million people.

The World Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund appealed to the government and rebels Thursday to suspend fighting and allow aid workers to immunize hundreds of thousands of children against measles.

The two agencies plan to immunize 12.7 million children on Oct. 14-15 throughout this East African nation.    


   
10/09/03 16:28 EDT
    

Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.  All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. 

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