June 27, 2006:
Teenage (under-18 year old) soldiers are to be discharged from the army. Despite low pay and precarious living conditions, a job in the army is seen as an attractive proposition by many young Ugandans. But, bowing to UN pressure, the army will stop taking those under 18, and will find and discharge under-18 soldiers.
June 26, 2006: The Sudanese government reported that over the weekend Sudanese forces attacked and killed four Ugandan LRA fighters in south Sudan. The Sudanese Army killed three LRA rebels and the police killed one. The incident took place in Sudan's Central Equatorial state. Uganda has been encouraging the Sudan government to root out LRA holdouts still in south Sudan.
June 23, 2006: The Ugandan government wants a UN-backed force to deal with the LRA. Ugandan also wants the UN to pressure Congo and Sudan to cooperate with Uganda in fighting the LRA. Ugandan has received cooperation from UN peacekeepers in Congo, but the Ugandan government claims the LRA still has a base in northeastern Congo.
The Ugandan government also reported that a new oil well with oil in "commercial quantities" had been drilled near Lake Albert.
June 22, 2006: The district commissioner of Lira district claimed that the LRA has been driven out of Lira and Apac districts.
June 21, 2006: Ugandan sources reported a soldier "went wild" in a suburb of Kampala and killed four people, including two policemen and another soldier. The Ugandan government deployed police and the Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU). The killer escaped.
A retired Ugandan Anglican bishop said that the war in "northern Uganda" was a "genocide." The retired Anglican bishop of Kitgum, Macleord Ochola, said both the Ugandan military and the LRA had committed crimes against innocent people.
June 20, 2006: The Ugandan military began disarming a group of Pokot tribal warriors who crossed into Uganda in May from Kenya. The Ugandan government said about 3,000 Pokot fighters entered Uganda with approximately 20,000 cattle. Kenya has been disarming the Pokot (who have a reputation as rustlers) and the Pokot fled the Kenyan military and police operation. The Ugandans see the Pokot as a problem, too. A Ugandan spokesman claimed a group of Pokot stole 45 head of cattle in Uganda earlier this month.
