Lord's Resistance Army

19 Stories

Former Child Soldier Learns His Fate

Uganda's Dominic Ongwen is convicted of war crimes, but says he was a victim, too

(Newser) - This war crimes conviction came with a unique defense. Former warlord Dominic Ongwen says he should be considered a victim, too, because he was abducted as a boy and turned into a child soldier, reports the Guardian . However, the argument didn't wash with the International Criminal Court at the...

Is This a Sign Joseph Kony Is Weakening?

He promotes son to deputy leader of Lord's Resistance Army

(Newser) - Joseph Kony has named his 22-year-old son as deputy leader of his Lord's Resistance Army—and top Ugandan general Sam Kavuma says the move is a sign that Kony's control over the guerrilla force is weakening. Fighters have separated into different autonomous groups roaming across remote parts of...

US Hunt for Joseph Kony Heats Up

Obama to send aircraft, 150 special ops forces to Uganda

(Newser) - A viral video campaign may not have turned up a warlord accused of murder, rape, and kidnapping in central Africa, but the White House is hoping a ramped up effort by the United States will. The Washington Post reports that President Obama has ordered a strengthened US presence in Uganda—...

Crowdfunding Goal: Find Joseph Kony

Adventurer Robert Young Pelton wants to film expedition

(Newser) - Big bureaucracies aren't the ones we should trust to track down the world's evildoers, says Canadian adventurer and writer Robert Young Pelton: Instead, we should leave it to him: Young has established a website to raise $450,000 in an effort to track down Joseph Kony , the Ugandan...

Help National Security: Curb Animal Poaching
Help National Security:
Curb Animal Poaching
OPINION

Help National Security: Curb Animal Poaching

Funds go to terrorist groups, say op-ed writers

(Newser) - The US needs to get way more aggressive in stopping animal poachers worldwide—not just for moral reasons but for its own national security, write three advocates in the New York Times . Poaching is a major source of revenue for terror organizations, and poachers' links to groups such as al-Qeada,...

Uganda Stops Looking for Kony

Suspends search after CAR coup

(Newser) - Jason Russell's naked meltdown didn't stop the hunt for Joseph Kony, but a Central African coup has—at least temporarily. Uganda has suspended its 3,000-troop-strong search for Africa's most wanted warlord following the recent rebel takeover of Central African Republic, Reuters reports. "These rebels...

Biggest Problem in Hunt for Kony: It Hasn't Begun

Just 2.5K troops when 5K were planned

(Newser) - The African Union’s hunt for Joseph Kony hasn’t started yet, because it’s missing some very important resources: troops and equipment. Ugandan Col. Dick Olum, who is heading up the hunt for the warlord, tells the AP there are only 2,000 Ugandan soldiers and 500 South Sudanese...

US Outsourcing African Spy Missions

US contractors have been searching for Joseph Kony for years, with contractors

(Newser) - The US was searching for Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony for years before it sent troops to central Africa last year , but it was using American contractors instead of the military, the Washington Post finds in a detailed look at the program code-named "Tusker Sand." Private...

Uganda Nabs Top Kony Crony
 Uganda Nabs Top Kony Crony 
UPDATED

Uganda Nabs Top Kony Crony

Caesar Acellam was LRA's top military strategist

(Newser) - Ugandan forces today captured a senior commander of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, reports the BBC . Caesar Acellam is Kony's top military strategist, notes the AP , though he was not indicted alongside Kony by the ICC in 2005. "He is in good condition," says a...

Kony Search Could Take Years: US

Reports put him in Sudan, Central African Republic

(Newser) - The search for Joseph Kony continues, and it could be a long time—even years—before we see results, US officials say. They believe the warlord is hiding in the jungles of the Central African Republic, but his low-tech survival methods—no radios, no phones, just messengers on foot—have...

US Barely Trying in Kony Hunt
 US Barely Trying in Kony Hunt 

US Barely Trying in Kony Hunt

US hasn't deployed technological muscle in effort to bring down LRA warlord

(Newser) - When US troops arrived in the Central African Republic village of Obo, residents cheered. "The Americans have captured Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein," said one tribal chief. "Surely they can catch Joseph Kony." But so far the US has shown little progress in catching the...

Kony 2012 Sequel Released
 Kony 2012 Sequel Released 
reaction

Kony 2012 Sequel Released

Part II is still 'slick, hip' but lacks Jason Russell

(Newser) - The sequel to viral video sensation Kony 2012 is here, and it's lacking a pretty big component of the first video: Jason Russell . Russell, the Invisible Children co-founder who narrated the first video, was hospitalized after an outburst in San Diego last month. As a result of his absence,...

Invisible Children Co-Founder Found Half-Naked, Detained

Jason Russell is one of those behind 'Kony 2012' viral video

(Newser) - Jason Russell, a co-founder of the charity behind the Kony 2012 viral video , was detained in San Diego yesterday for allegedly being drunk and masturbating in public. Russell, 33, was found allegedly vandalizing cars, masturbating, and generally acting strange, a police officer says, adding that he may have been under...

Video to Stop African Warlord Joseph Kony Goes Viral

It's part of a savvy campaign to get him arrested

(Newser) - You might be hearing the name Joseph Kony a lot lately, and it's all part of a calculated media campaign to get the African warlord arrested. The group Invisible Children has posted a 30-minute video called "Kony 2012" whose sole purpose is to spread the word about his...

Ben Affleck Lends Star Power on African Atrocities

He and 'Washington Post' columnist hear tales of LRA brutalities

(Newser) - Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army have been terrorizing central Africa for years, "but the net around him tightens," writes Michael Gerson in the Washington Post . Gerson accompanied Ben Affleck, who founded the Eastern Congo Initiative , to the region to hear first-hand the tales of atrocities...

Limbaugh Defends Lord's Resistance Army

Radio host puzzled by US operation against murderous Ugandan militia

(Newser) - Rush Limbaugh has attracted scorn even from his fellow conservatives with a bizarre defense of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. The radio host attacked President Obama for sending troops to track down the militia's leader , slamming the president for "targeting Christians," the New York Times reports....

Obama Sends US Troops to Hunt African Militia Leader

One-hundred will help find Joseph Kony of Lord's Resistance Army

(Newser) - President Obama is sending about 100 US troops to central Africa to help track down Joseph Kony, the head of the Lord’s Resistance Army, he told Congress today. Obama said that LRA “has murdered, raped, and kidnapped tens of thousands of men, women and children in central Africa,...

'Crisis Tracker' Maps Atrocities in Africa

Rights groups create site to monitor rebels of Lord's Resistance Army

(Newser) - Two nonprofit rights groups are bringing technology to bear on a rebel group that has terrorized Uganda and central Africa for more than two decades. Mashable takes note of a digital mapping service called LRA Crisis Tracker that provides real-time accounts of assaults, kidnappings, and worse committed by the infamous...

US Funded Failed Attack on Ugandan Rebels

LRA escaped 'poorly planned' attack, massacred civilians

(Newser) - The US military helped fund and plan a disastrous attack on a Ugandan rebel group that resulted in reprisals against civilians, the New York Times reports. Uganda had hoped to rout the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army from the Congolese national park it was hiding in, but it failed to...

19 Stories