05/15/2012 16:30 GMT

KAMPALA, May 15, 2012 (AFP) - Key dates in the history of the Lord's Resistance Army and the devastating civil war it has waged in northern Uganda:

• 1986: Yoweri Museveni seizes power after years of bloodshed marked notably by the bloody dictatorship of Idi Amin Dada. Museveni, now elected, remains president today.

• 1987: Alice Lakwena, a self-proclaimed prophetess, launches an insurgency called the Holy Spirit Movement in northern Uganda.

• 1988: Joseph Kony, Lakwena's cousin, takes over the fight, at the head of what becomes the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

• March 1994: The LRA steps up ambushes and abductions in the north, which borders the south of Sudan.

• April 1995: Uganda and Sudan break off relations, each accusing the other of backing hostile rebel groups.

• July 1996: Thousands of residents flee villages after a wave of LRA violence in the district of Gulu.

• January 1997: Nearly 400 people are killed by the LRA during a four-day raid in the region of Kitgum.

• April 2001: The United Nations Human Rights Commission condemns the LRA for kidnappings, torture, detentions, rapes and the forced enrolment of children.

• April 2002: Uganda and Sudan restore diplomatic relations, after an accord that gives the Ugandan army the right to pursue LRA guerrillas into Sudanese territory.

• March 2003: Human Rights Watch says some 5,000 children have been abducted and forcibly enrolled by the LRA since June 2002. More than 20,000 children have been used as child soldiers.

• February 2004: More than 200 people are massacred in an attack by suspected LRA fighters on a camp for displaced persons.

• May 2004: Some 170 people, including 55 civilians, are killed in fighting with the LRA, according to the army.

• 1995: LRA fighters are reported to have set up bases in neighbouring states: the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and southern Sudan.

• Oct 2005: The International Criminal Court says it has issued arrest warrants against five LRA officials, including Joseph Kony.

• July 14, 2006: The government and the LRA launch peace negotiations in Juba, southern Sudan.

• February 23, 2008: The Ugandan government and the LRA sign an agreement for a permanent ceasefire.

• April 10, 2008: The signature of a peace agreement is postponed when Kony fails to turn up.

• December 15, 2008: The armed forces of southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo join the Ugandan armed forces in a major offensive against the LRA rebels.

• December 19, 2011: A unit of US special forces arrives in the east of the Central African Republic to help fight the LRA.

• March 2012: US charity Invisible Children, releases a video on to the Internet, raising worldwide awareness of the LRA problem in Uganda.

• May 15, 2012: Uganda says its troops have captured Caesar Acellam, a top LRA leader, in the Central African Republic.

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