Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Issues 2012
Candidates 2012
Tales from the Trail
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Opinion Home
Chrystia Freeland
John Lloyd
Felix Salmon
Jack Shafer
David Rohde
Bernd Debusmann
Nader Mousavizadeh
Lucy P. Marcus
David Cay Johnston
Bethany McLean
Edward Hadas
Hugo Dixon
Ian Bremmer
Lawrence Summers
Susan Glasser
The Great Debate
Steven Brill
Jack & Suzy Welch
Breakingviews
Equities
Credit
Private Equity
M&A
Macro & Markets
Politics
Breakingviews Video
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Editor's choice
Our best photos from the last 24 hours. Full Article
Images of March
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Nugent says had "solid" meeting with Secret Service
19 Apr 2012
Insight: U.S. barnyards help China super-size food production
1:41am EDT
Nugent says had "solid" meeting with Secret Service
9:41am EDT
Emerging powers ready to give IMF billions
8:46am EDT
Rove rides again, as a force behind Romney
19 Apr 2012
Discussed
172
Trayvon Martin’s killer showed signs of injury: neighbors
91
Scandal mars Obama’s wooing of Latin America
85
Human-made earthquakes reported in central U.S
Watched
Have a slice of insect pie!
Wed, Apr 18 2012
Great white shark kills man in Cape Town waters
Thu, Apr 19 2012
Thousands march in Auschwitz to commemorate Holocaust Day
Thu, Apr 19 2012
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Images from Hubble
The Hubble Telescope marks its 22nd anniversary. Slideshow
Most influential people
A sampling of those who made the latest Time magazine list. Slideshow
Ugandan troops play jungle cat and mouse with Kony
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Uganda says would back South Sudan in any Sudan war
5:12am EDT
Bashir says Sudan to teach South "final lesson by force"
Thu, Apr 19 2012
Sudan's Bashir vows to "liberate" South Sudan
Wed, Apr 18 2012
Sudan says cost no bar to recapture of oil region
Tue, Apr 17 2012
South Sudan says Heglig oilfield reduced "to rubble," Sudan denies
Sun, Apr 15 2012
Analysis & Opinion
Not enough focus on child soldiers’ lives in “Kony 2012″ -War Child
Invest in women in conflict zones to promote change
Related Topics
World »
Lord Resistance Army's (LRA) Major General Joseph Kony, in this exclusive image, poses at peace negotiations between the LRA and Ugandan religious and cultural leaders in Ri-Kwangba, southern Sudan, November 30, 2008.
Credit: Reuters/Africa24 Media
By Richard Lough
RIVER CHINKO, Central African Republic |
Fri Apr 20, 2012 11:33am EDT
RIVER CHINKO, Central African Republic (Reuters) - A Ugandan "hunting squad" pushes through the thick jungle of central Africa in search of the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony.
It is tough terrain that favors the hunted.
At times the Ugandan soldiers cover as little as three kilometers a day, laboring through hanging vines and dense foliage that cut visibility to a few meters and wading chest-deep through crocodile-infested rivers.
The 58-man special operations group, codenamed 77-kilo, is at the forefront of a reinvigorated international drive to close the net on the sadistic Kony and the remnants of his depleted Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group.
The deployment of some 100 U.S. military advisers to the region late last year to support the hunt raised hopes Kony's decades-long campaign, notorious for the rebels' practices of hacking off limbs and abducting children, was doomed.
However, in the steamy forests straddling the borders of Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo, the LRA's favored hideouts since it fled its native Uganda, Kony remains a master of the hostile environment.
"We're hungry to hunt these guys down and take them back home, but it's a tough task," said Private James Mukundane, a sturdy warrior with a broad smile.
Ugandan commanders believe Kony and his two most senior lieutenants, who all face war crimes charges, are in a band of territory several hundred kilometers wide, feeding on wild yams and stolen cattle and drinking from rivers.
Uganda's military estimates the LRA has been reduced to no more than 200 fighters in CAR. Pockets of LRA fighters also remain in Congo. Moving in small groups and avoiding the use of satellite phones and radios, they are hard to intercept.
REBEL HIDEOUT
Less than an hour into 77-Kilo's patrol, the troops, sweat pouring down their brows, encounter nomadic cattle herders. They claim they are from the north of the country but more likely are from Sudan's Darfur region or neighboring Chad.
Under gentle questioning, they deny any contact with the LRA since the middle of 2011.
It is an unlikely story. Air surveillance images used to help coordinate the search for enemy combatants indicate suspected rebel movements in the area in recent weeks.
Slowly, an Arabic-speaking trooper coaxes the hardest intelligence the squad has received in weeks from Harun Issa, who crouches down and begins sketching a map in the dirt.
"Five days ago your forces were just here, southeast of where we are now," Issa said, jabbing his cane into the dust to mark a point along the river Chinko.
"The distance between your men and them, you could walk in about 20 minutes," he said. The rebels had raided his family's herd twice in the last few days, once in a group of 80 fighters and abducted youngsters.
The rebels' hideout was in a large wooded hollow on the eastern bank of the Chinko, said Issa, whose children had earlier stumbled upon the camp while collecting water.
"Today is a step forward," said the squad's commander, Lieutenant Harold Olet.
It is also a morale booster for Olet's men. Their last contact with the rebels was a brief firefight with two LRA reconnaissance fighters in January. Before that, they had had no contact since September.
Now, in exchange for sugar and medicine, Issa will lead the hunting squad to the rebel group's last known position. Three other hunting squads have been drafted in to support the raid.
REVENGE
Kony, a self-styled mystic leader who at one time wanted to rule Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, fled northern Uganda in 2005, roaming first the lawless expanses of South Sudan, then the isolated northeastern tip of Congo.
In December 2008, Uganda launched Operation Lightning Thunder, dispersing the rebels and pushing them north into CAR. More than three years later, Uganda's force commander Colonel Joesph Balikudembe said the LRA's battle was now to survive.
"We have weakened the LRA in terms of numbers, in terms of weaponry and in terms of the will to fight," said Balikudembe, speaking at the force's main operating base in Nzara, South Sudan.
But regional security forces have failed to land a knockout blow on Kony, who was thrust into the spotlight this year when a video highlighting the mutilations, rapes and murders carried out by his drugged, vicious fighters went viral on the internet.
There are hopes the U.S. forces may prove the game-changer, swinging the cat-and-mouse hunt in Uganda's favor, though Washington's exact role remains vague.
U.S. President Barack Obama, outlining the troops' mission, made clear they would be trainers and advisers to the hunters but would not engage in combat except in self-defense.
Several clean-cut U.S. soldiers were spotted in Nzara and Djema, the Ugandan army's forward operating base about 200 km inside CAR, but they deflected questions with broad smiles.
Balikudembe said they were helping with logistics and intelligence. "We are using our American advisers to see if they can make any interceptions," he said.
Close to the river Chinko, Private Jimmy Odong prepared for 77-kilo's advance on the suspected rebel camp.
The LRA kidnapped Odong and his five brothers in 1994. Then 13, his first order was to bludgeon to death his younger brother who could not keep up with the abducted group.
Killing and looting became routine, his teenage conscience numbed to the atrocities he was committing. Eight years after he escaped, Odong is now one of the hunting squad's "pseudo men".
Clad in tatty fatigues and a beaded necklace, his hair in dreadlocks, Odong's role is to infiltrate rebel outposts, relaying intelligence to the squad in preparation for attack.
"I know their patterns of movement, I know their tactics, I can talk openly with them," Odong said.
The stakes are high. One false move, one incorrect answer and his cover is blown. But Odong's desire to avenge his lost childhood drives him on.
"I hope we get Kony, that the army hands him over to the Hague and he answers the charges against him."
(Editing by David Clarke and Tim Pearce)
World
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.