16 dead as villagers, rebels in CAR clash

ABOUT 16 people were killed during clashes between rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army and villagers in Central African Republic.

LRA fighters attacked two villages in the central region of Bria on Thursday, initially killing six people and wounding about 10 others as they looted houses, a military source said on Saturday.

“The rebels were pursued and caught by villagers armed with rifles who killed four of them,” the source added.

The LRA fighters responded with a fresh attack killing six more people, who they decapitated, placing their heads on tree trunks.

The region suffered regular attacks from the LRA and other rebel groups. After the Seleka rebel coalition ousted president Francois Bozize in March, interim leader Michel Djotodia vowed to put an end to LRA incursions.

The LRA, a Ugandan force set up by Joseph Kony, has killed more than 100 000 people during a reign of terror in central Africa over the past 25 years, UN leader Ban Kimoon said last month.

It is also blamed for the abduction of between 60 000 and 100 000 children, many of whom have been forced to fight as child soldiers, he said in a report. Kony originally launched an uprising against the Ugandan government in the 1980s.

His group has since staged attacks in several countries.

He is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and is believed to be hiding in jungles of central Africa. But conflict in the region brought the hunt for Kony to a near standstill. — Sapa-AFP