South Sudan to boost defences against LRA rebels - Reuters

Mon Jun 9, 2008 8:53am EDT

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JUBA, Sudan, June 9 (Reuters) - South Sudan will send more soldiers to the region bordering Democratic Republic of Congo to guard against further attacks by fugitive Lord's Resistance Army rebels, officials said on Monday.

The SPLA already has 3,000 troops in Western Equatoria State, where LRA fighters killed 23 people including 14 southern Sudanese soldiers in a raid last week that underlined the collapse of two years of peace talks hosted by the south.

"Instructions have been given to the headquarters of the SPLA to increase their presence," southern Interior Minister Paul Mayom told Reuters. "The LRA have proved to be a danger."

Mayom said the extra deployment was aimed at protecting civilians in the area who have often fallen victim of the LRA, which is notorious for mutilating its victims and abducting thousands of children as fighters, porters and sex slaves. …

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