Rebel group LRA abducts 100 people in DR Congo

About 100 people are believed to have been kidnapped by fighters of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the north of Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Reports attributed to the UN-sponsored Okapi Radio said about 50 gunmen from the LRA launched the attack on Bondo territory in the vast DR Congo region last weekend.

Those captured are reported to have been made to carry off their loot.

Students, who had travelled from neighbouring villages to sit for their primary leaving national examinations, as well as traders and nurses who were carrying out vaccination campaign against meningitis were among those who were kidnapped, the radio reports.

The administrator of Bondo said troops were pursuing them into Adama forest, believed to be the rebels’ hiding place.

The LRA was formed in northern Uganda nearly three decades ago, but retreated to DR Congo and other countries as it came under military pressure.

The International Criminal Court has already issued an arrest warrant for its leader, Joseph Kony, to stand trial for war crimes.

LRA Crisis Tracker says it is responsible for more than 100,000 deaths, and a similar number of abductions.