News
African Union to pull together to stop Joseph Kony
The LRA is responsible for 2,600 civilian deaths since 2008, according to the African Union.
The African Union mission, to be led by a Ugandan commander, will comprise troops from Uganda, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Congo, countries where Kony’s reign of terror has been felt over the years.
The African Union’s most prominent military mission is in Somalia, where 17,700 troops — primarily from Uganda, Kenya and Burundi — are fighting al-Shabaab militants. The force has made strong gains over the last year, pushing insurgents out of Somalia’s capital.
The AU’s new focus on Kony dovetails with the Ugandan military’s stance that catching or killing Kony would mean the end of the LRA. His forces were ousted from Ugandan territory in 2005.
The officials meeting in Uganda on Friday did not say where the funding for the mission was coming from but acknowledged that finding money was a problem.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press
