South Sudan’s Equatoria seeks financial support against Ugandan reebels Article Comments (17) Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Ngor Arol Garang June 18, 2011 (JUBA) - Western Equatoria State in South Sudan appealed on Saturday for financial support to build capacity of the "Arrow Boys", a vigilante group fighting the Ugandan rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) who have a presence in the state. Arrow Boys seen here in May 2010, patrol a village in south Sudan in an attempt to defend themselves from attacks LRA rebels (AFP) The Arrow Boys are fighting alongside the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), South Sudan’s army, against a notorious rebel group from the neighboring country of Uganda operating in the state. This comes following reports that armed elements identified by the local people as members of the Lord Resistance (LRA), raided Kidi village in Gangura Payam of Yambio County. Officials say the fugitive rebel group carried out an attack on the area on Friday, June 17 at around 6:30pm. Two children were abducted, one of whom was a 12 year old girl and a boy of a around 14 years of age. However the children were rescued by the Arrow Boys, named after the weapons they used before to receive guns from the state. The local voluntaries claim to have killed two of the LRA abductors. One died on the spot, the other later from his injuries. The LRA are notorious for kidnapping children and forcing them to fight with them. Gibson Bullen Wande, Minister of Information and Communications in the government of Western Equatoria State, condemned the attack and called for continuous support of the SPLA and the Arrow Boys to ring peace and stability in the state. Wande told Sudan Tribune from Yambio on Saturday that the village in which the attack took place was far away from a military outpost belonging to the SPLA and he appealed for financial support from the government in order to build the capacity of the Arrow Boys. "We really need financial support from the government of South Sudan to build the capacity of the Arrow Boys so that they are able to fight against elements of Lord Resistance Army operating in the area," he said. He said that the five million Sudanese pounds allocated to SPLA to fight the LRA should instead be given to the state government to provide the Arrow Boys with training. The minister argued that this approach made more sense as the volunteer fighters live in areas not easily accessible by the SPLA. Wande encouraged the community to be security conscious and said he appreciated the courage they had to remain in their villages despite regular attacks by the LRA. The minister said that the attack had taken place on Friday evening. He that two children were abducted by the LRA but were rescued by home guards from the area. "Yes, the Lord Resistance Army attacked Kidi village on Friday evening, injuring one civilian and abducted 2 children before being rescued by the arrow boys," said minister Wande. The minister said: "No civilians were killed. They also did not take away or destroy anything because the arrows boys were quick to mobilise themselves and initiate recovery attack in which one of the LRA members was killed on spot and another died today after sustaining severe injuries." "The body of one of the LRA members shot during the clash with Arrow Boys was found today", he said. South Sudan will become independent on 9 July. Western Equatoria State expects to be under frequent attacks from the LRA if no further military support is provided. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
