October 17, 2009
The Independent (UK)

Darfur: A Deadly New Chapter

Africa's most feared rebel army arrives in region, threatening to reignite the conflict

By Daniel Howden

Africa's most feared rebel army arrives in region, threatening to reignite the conflict

The Lord's Resistance Army, one of the most feared guerrilla groups in Africa, has moved into Darfur, one of the continent's most troubled regions, intelligence sources in Sudan say.

The unexpected move by the LRA comes just as the war-weary west of Sudan recedes from world headlines and after the UN mission there had tentatively declared the fighting to be over. The possible arrival of a messianic cult notorious for rape, civilian massacres and the enslavement of child soldiers threatens that fragile peace. The LRA has been terrorising the north of the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 months but the bulk of its forces have now crossed into southern Darfur, a senior official in the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) told The Independent. . . .

The rebels, led by the self-styled prophet Joseph Kony, have waged a campaign of terror in central Africa for two decades. . . .

After being forced out of Uganda, the LRA had initially moved into the north of Congo. The rebel fighters relocated last year to camps in Garamba National Park in what was hoped would be the final staging post before a peace deal. But internationally brokered talks collapsed after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Kony's arrest. . . .

FULL TEXT

Tweet
Follow @wisdomfund

The Lord's Resistance Army (also Lord's Resistance Movement or Lakwena Part Two) is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium, primarily of the Holy Spirit, which the Acholi believe can represent itself in many manifestations. The group adheres to a syncretistic blend of Christianity, Mysticism, traditional religion, and witchcraft, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.

"Congo: War Against Women," CBS: 60 Minutes, January 13, 2008

"War in Sudan's Darfur 'Is Over'," BBC News, August 27, 2009

[In the Ogaden, Ethiopian death squads, funded by western "aid" have spent the better part of the past decade spreading murder and mayhem across the countryside.--Tom Mountain, "Busting the Darfur Myth," middle-east-online.com, October 23, 2009]

Xan Rice, "'Stench of death' in Congo confirms resurgence of Lord's Resistance Army," Observer, March 28, 2010

Mark Smith, "Obama sends troops to hunt ruthless African rebel army ," Independent, October 15, 2011

Alex Henderson, "Army of God? 6 Modern-Day Christian Terrorist Groups You Never Hear About," alternet.org, April 1, 2015