ReliefWeb

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This LRA Crisis Tracker Annual Security Brief provides a summary and analysis of the reported activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) from January - December 2011 in Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo), South Sudan, and Central African Republic (CAR).

The LRA reportedly killed 144 civilians in 2011, a 78.0% reduction from the 654 reported killings in 2010. The group also abducted 595 people in 2011, a 47.3% reduction from the 1,130 reported abductions in 2010. 284 reported LRA attacks occurred in 2011, a 32.4% decrease from the 420 reported attacks in 2010.

Within 2011, reported LRA activity declined dramatically as the year progressed.
LRA Crisis Tracker data showed an 83.9% reduction in reported civilian fatalities and an 74.5% reduction in civilian abductions in the second half of 2011. Overall, the LRA reportedly committed 203 attacks in the first half of the year and 81 attacks in the second half of the year.

While the cause of this reduction in attacks is not clear, there is little evidence that LRA operational capacity significantly diminished over the course of the year.

Coinciding with the start of this reduction in LRA violence, numerous accounts report that Joseph Kony summoned his key command leadership to rendezvous with his unit in CAR between the months of July and September. By September, reports revealed that commanders had again dispersed and several LRA groups were headed south towards the CARCongo border.

426 individuals reportedly returned from LRA captivity in 2011, including many who escaped immediately or soon after being abducted. LRA commanders released 2 large groups of women and children in 2011, a group of 17 near Duru, Congo in October and a group of 13 near Bangadi,
Congo in November.