UGANDA: Rebels attack northwestern villages, kill six

KAMPALA, 10 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on Wednesday night raided villages in the northwestern district of Adjumani, where they killed six, the military said on Thursday.

"They [the rebels] attacked the villages of Siriri, Aboki and Pali towards midnight on Wednesday and killed six people, injuring 16 others," Lt Kiconco Tabaro, a northern-based army spokesman, said.

Tabaro said the rebels had torched 75 grass-thatched houses in the area before the army had intervened.

"We pursued them and killed one of the rebel fighters and our forces are still pursuing them," Tabaro added.

Resident district commissioner of Adjumani, Patrick Buriiku, who had just visited the scene of the attack, told IRIN he had seen the bodies of victims.

"They were killed in the most horrible manner," Buriiku said, adding that the rebels attacked all those they found in the homestead compounds. "I came across bodies of both children and adults with their heads shattered when the rebels hit them with hoes."

In another development, the Ugandan army detained two local opposition politicians on Wednesday in northern Uganda for alleged collaboration with the LRA.

David Penytoo and Stephen Olanya, both senior members of the Gulu branch of the Democratic Party and officials of the local government councils in the northern district, were being detained at Gulu military barracks.

"Our general secretary, David Penytoo, and an executive member, Stephen Olanya, were arrested yesterday and are being detained in Gulu military barracks," Alex Otim, the head of the party's youth wing in Gulu, told IRIN.

Tabaro confirmed the detentions, but declined to give further details.

However, an army officer in Gulu who preferred anonymity said Penytoo and Olanya were suspected of involvement in the LRA.

"They were arrested for rebel collaboration activities and investigations are still ongoing," the official said.

Penytoo has only recently been released from prison, having served almost three years without charge.

The LRA and the government of President Yoweri Museveni have been embroiled in a 19-year long war, which has seen tens of thousands killed and over 1.4 million displaced.

[ENDS]