| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Africa Horn | |
| LRA gunmen kill nine people in south Sudan attack | |
| 2006-06-13 | |
| JUBA, Sudan - Gunmen from UgandaÂ’s LordÂ’s Resistance Army guerrillas killed nine people in an attack on the outskirts of the south Sudanese capital Juba, an army officer and residents said on Monday. Residents said the victims of Sunday nightÂ’s attack were foreigners working for a Russian road construction company. Achol Achol, the officer with the governmentÂ’s Sudan PeopleÂ’s Liberation Army (SPLA), told Reuters SundayÂ’s attack at about 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) was in the Gumba area on the east bank of the Nile and a few miles from the city centre. Nine people were wounded, including two children and five women, Achol added. In the morning hundreds of villagers took shelter in the compound around the Juba Radio transmitter, which has a small police contingent, witnesses said. LRA guerrillas have been operating in the area but are not necessarily under the control of the LRA leadership, who are holding talks with the south Sudanese government. The vice president of the southern Sudan government, Riek Machar, met with LRA leader Joseph Kony on Monday near the southern town of Maridi, Juba Radio said later. They talked about the agenda for discussions expected to take place in Juba in a few days between the LRA, the government and representatives of the Ugandan government, it said. The LRA is notorious for killing civilians, abducting children and mutilating victims in a campaign without clearly stated political aims. The government of southern Sudan is trying to persuade the group to leave the country.
| |
| Posted by:Steve White |