Sudan gives haven to fugitive warlord
Joseph Kony still directing attacks: report
The fugitive African warlord Joseph Kony recently found safe haven in territory controlled by Sudan, a watchdog group said Friday, accusing the Sudanese military of offering aid to commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army.
The U.S.-based group Resolve said in a new report that Kony recently directed killings from an enclave protected by the Sudanese military.
Until early this year, according to the report, Kony and some of his commanders were operating in Kafia Kingi, a disputed area along the SudanSouth Sudan border where African Union troops tasked with catching Kony don’t have access.
“The enclave is currently controlled by Sudan, and numerous eyewitness reports indicate that elements of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Kafia Kingi have actively sheltered senior LRA commanders there and provided them with limited material support,” the Resolve report said.
“According to LRA defectors and other sources, LRA leader Joseph Kony himself first travelled to the Kafia Kingi enclave in 2010. He returned to Kafia Kingi in 2011 and was present there throughout parts of 2012.”
In a series of makeshift camps near a Sudanese army barracks, Kony “continued to direct LRA attacks against civilians in neighbouring countries and issue new orders for LRA fighters.”
The Ugandan military — with support from U.S. military advisers — is the driving force behind the hunt for Kony.
Ugandan army spokesman Col. Felix Kulayigye said the report vindicates Uganda’s contention that the LRA is a beneficiary of Sudanese support. “We always knew Kony was hiding in Kafia Kingi,” Kulayigye said. “The way forward is that no country should be hiding a wanted criminal.”
Kony watchdog groups are concerned that Kony can retreat to Kafia Kingi whenever his pursuers get close.