Captured Lord’s Resistance Army leader a ‘big fish’
Uganda has captured one of the top five members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, bringing it a step closer to catching Joseph Kony, the notorious rebel leader accused of war crimes, the military said yesterday.
The Ugandan army said it caught Caesar Achellam, a major-general in Kony’s outfit of about 200 fighters, in an ambush along the banks of the River Mbou in Central African Republic on Sunday. Achellam was armed with an AK-47 rifle and eight rounds of ammunition, a spokesman for the Uganda People’s Defence Force said. He was being held with his wife, a young daughter and a helper.
The UPDF, which has a team hunting for Kony fulltime in the jungles of the republic, backed by American troops, said the capture of Achellam would encourage other fighters to abandon the LRA. ‘‘The arrest of Major-general Caesar Achellam is big progress because he is a big fish,’’ UPDF spokesman Felix Kulayigye said. ‘‘His capture is definitely going to cause an opinion shift within the LRA.’’
Achellam, who was paraded before media, walked with a limp, which he attributed to an old wound. He was returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo when he walked into the soldiers’ ambush.
Analysts said Achellam was a close ally of Kony and had masterminded the group’s relocation from northern Uganda.
‘‘From whichever angle you look at it, the loss of Achellam should be very troubling for Kony and a big boost for his manhunt,’’ said Angelo Izama, an analyst who has written extensively on the LRA.
Kony fled northern Uganda in 2005, roaming first the lawless expanses of South Sudan, then the isolated northeastern tip of Congo.
In December 2008, Uganda launched Operation Lightning Thunder against the LRA, dispersing the rebels and pushing them north into the Central African Republic.
The International Criminal Court at The Hague has issued arrest warrants for Kony and his top commanders for several counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes, although Achellam is not among those charged.