The White House hailed the capture today of one of the senior commanders of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) by the Ugandan military.
The Ugandan troops had been staking out an area near the Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo for three weeks when they ran into Acellam, who threw up his hands and surrendered.
“While the capture of Acellam is an important step forward, the LRA continues to pose a deadly threat to civilians,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said in a statement. “The United States is committed to supporting the people and governments of the region in their collective efforts, in coordination with the African Union and United Nations, to protect civilians and end this threat.”
“A small number of U.S. military advisors continue to assist Uganda and other regional forces pursuing the LRA and seeking to protect local populations,” Carney continued. “As President Obama has said, ‘it is part of our regional strategy to end the scourge that is the LRA, and help realize a future where no African child is stolen from their family and no girl is raped and no boy is turned into a child soldier.'”
Congress has pushed hard for the arrest of LRA leader Joseph Kony, who has been indicted at the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity for kidnapping children to be used as soldiers or sex slaves.
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