AU: New force nearly ready to fight LRA
Jun 26, 2012, 10:05 PM
UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The African Union special envoy on the Lord’s Resistance Army says new regional military force dedicated to destroying the notorious Joseph Kony-led armed group is nearly operational.
Francisco Madeira said Tuesday at a U.N. news conference on the LRA that the force will be made up of 5,000 troops from Uganda, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The regional force, which can move across borders, is headquartered in South Sudan, near the Congo border.
This month, a U.N. report said that the LRA abducted and recruited at least 591 children between July 2009 and February 2012.
President Barack Obama sent 100 U.S. forces into Central Africa last year to help hunt down Kony, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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