News Article by XINHUA on December 26,
1999 at 12:44:20:
KAMPALA (Dec. 26) XINHUA - About
200 rebels of the Lords's Resistance Army (LRA), who have been fighting
against Uganda government from bases in southern Sudan, have entered the
east African country.
The LRA rebels crossed from Ngomoromo border line and have advanced to Lamwo county in the northern district of Kitgum, according to a report on Sunday's Monitor daily.
Uganda's Fourth Division Commander Samuel Kawagga was reported as confirming the incursion, but he did not disclose confrontation between the rebels and the government troops.
He noted that the situation in the area is under complete control of the government army.
The LRA rebels, spearheaded by Joseph Kony, have been fighting the government since 1986 when President Yoweri Museveni's National Resistance Movement came to power in Kampala. They have abducted more than 15,000 children in their 13-year-long rebellion.
Uganda and Sudan, which have been accusing each other of backing the rebels from their respective countries, came to thwart their strained relations recently.
On December 8, Uganda and Sudan signed an 11-article peace agreement in Nairobi, Kenya, promising not to support each other's rebel groups.