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Source: Reuters
Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and south Sudan
launched a joint military offensive against northern Ugandan rebels
in Garamba, eastern Congo, a Ugandan army spokesman said.
The three governments agreed in principle in June to launch joint
military operations against the LRA guerrillas - known for
mutilating survivors and kidnapping thousands of children - if
leader Joseph Kony did not sign a final peace deal to end two
decades of conflict.
"It's a joint operation ... We have attacked Lords Resistance Army
bases. The operation began this morning," Uganda army spokesman
Paddy Ankunda said.
Ankunda said they had attacked several camps, and no casualties had
been reported so far.
Officials from south Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo
were not immediately available for comment.
A swift victory would be unlikely against the guerrillas, experts
say, noting they have been in the area for some time and are used
to launching hit-and-run attacks against larger and better equipped
forces.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni last week renewed a call for Kony
to sign the peace deal.
He was speaking after Kony again snubbed mediators by failing to
show up and sign the agreement, thrashed out in two years of
negotiations in south Sudan.
Kony has demanded International Criminal Court indictments for him
and his top deputies be withdrawn before they leave their forest
hideouts in north-eastern Congo.
Thousands of people have been killed and two million displaced
during the 22 years of fighting between Kony's rebels and the
Ugandan government.
The conflict has destabilised parts of oil-producing south Sudan
and mineral-rich eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
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