The Monitor (Kampala)
September 1, 2003
Posted to the web September 2, 2003
Chris Obore & Patrick Elobu
Kampala
Eight people were killed and several abducted in Soroti town following a rebel raid yesterday.
Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army attacked Otucopi, a suburb of Soroti, killing at least eight people and abducting 12 others from Otucopi camp for internally displaced persons.
The rebels also attacked Aloet Primary School, just a few metres from Teso College, Aloet. The attack occurred at about 6:30 a.m.
They abducted some people camped at the primary school and frog-marched others before locking them inside a classroom.
"They came and killed some people and ran away with some. They ran off with some people from Aloet but we have not established the number," Mr Edward Masiga said.
Masiga is the resident district commissioner of Soroti and the district security committee chairman. He said many people who fled fighting in Gweri, Arapai and Wera sub-counties had camped at Aloet Primary School.
The attack on Otucopi, 3km on the Soroti-Moroto road and Aloet, is the third such invasion of Soroti town by Mr Joseph Kony's LRA since they entered Teso sub-region on June 15.
The attack came several hours after President Yoweri Museveni met his Cabinet in Soroti.
The President, who is camping in Soroti to ensure that Teso is free of the rebels, met his ministers at Soroti Hotel on Saturday evening.
After killing civilians, the rebels also looted shops in Amukaro near Teso College.
The Minister of State for Health, Mr Mike Mukula, declined to comment when contacted.
Mukula, who is also the Soroti Municipality MP, is co-ordinating the operations of the Arrow Group, a local militia fighting rebels in Teso.
Mukula asked this reporter to meet him at Soroti Hotel. "You have been reporting stories your way. Now come and physically talk to me and report stories my way," he said on phone and hang up.
But Masiga said the UPDF was pursuing the attackers. He said that he was in the field pursuing rebels. He downplayed the attack.
"They just sneaked into the town, killed some people and took some away. If it was an attack, they [rebels] should have stayed and fought our forces," he said.
The RDC dismissed reports that the UPDF soldiers stationed at Otucopi and Aloet were not vigilant enough when the rebels struck.
"Why did the rebels run away if soldiers never reacted?" Masiga said. There were complaints that UPDF soldiers only reacted after the rebels had executed their deadly mission.
The LC-IV councillor for Otucopi, Mr Geoffrey Oumo, said he had established that 12 internally displaced people were abducted from Otucopi alone.
Unconfirmed reports indicated that more bodies were seen in Tukum area, where the rebels passed while retreating.
Hundreds of civilians were yesterday seen flocking Soroti town while truckloads of soldiers accompanied by the mamba battle vehicles were moving toward Gweri sub-county.
The civilians had returned to their villages after they were assured by the district leaders that the rebels had been weakened and had retreated to Acholi.
President Museveni also promised people in Teso on August 20 that the LRA would be no more within a week from that date.
The army spokesman, Maj. Shaban Bantariza, said that he had received information about the Soroti attack but that it was scanty.
"They attacked between Soroti and Teso College. The commanders are there to verify what happened; when they come back, we shall know what happened," he said.
Preliminary reports also indicated that one Arrow fighter was gunned down by the rebels.
Meanwhile, residents of Nakatunya, also a suburb in Soroti town, arrested a suspected rebel spy and handed him to police.
The Monitor could not get details of the arrest by press time but the man reportedly had a pistol.
