L.R.A. raids village in western Orientale

The Lord's Resistance Army, driven from Uganda and recently the target of a three-nation offensive that failed to corner (and capture or kill) the LRA leadership, is back to its usual business... just a bit further west over near the Congolese border with the Central African Republic. They fell upon the village of Dakwa (in western Orientale Province) twice in the last week, and reports are that ~135 villagers have been kidnapped.

"They surrounded the village. The people were in mourning. They were taken away into the bush," said Marcel Kumbonyeki, the local Catholic priest in Bondo, some 200 km away, who was contacted by Dakwa's village priest soon after the attack.

"They carried out a second attack at 1400 (1200 GMT) on Wednesday. At that time a policeman was shot then stabbed to death, and they kidnapped the rest," he said.

Medecins Sans Frontieres, an outside aid organization with a presence in the immediate area of the attack, is attempting to confirm the details.