The Lord's Resistance Army is a rebel paramilitary group operating in northern Uganda, and as of February 2005 is engaged in an armed conflict against the Ugandan government. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself a spirit medium and apparently wishes to establish a state based on his unique interpretation of Biblical millenarianism. The rebels have been accused of many atrocities in the area. It is estimated that around 20,000 children have been kidnapped by the group since 1987 for use as as soldiers and sex slaves. LRA practices such as mutilation, enforced prostitution and enlisting children under the age of 15 into armed groups are war crimes. The group abducts its members primarily from the Acholi people, but it lacks widespread support among the Acholis, who have been the victims of many of its tactics. The insurgency has been mainly contained to the region known as Acholiland, consisting of the districts of Kitgum, Gulu, and Pader, though since 2002 violence has overflowed into other districts, including Lira, Apac and Adjumani.
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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1266: King Manfred of Sicily was killed near Benevento, fighting Angevin forces led by Charles, the Count of Anjou. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_of_Sicily)
1815: Napoléon Bonaparte escaped from Elba. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleon_I_of_France)
1935: Adolf Hitler ordered the German air force Luftwaffe reinstated, violating the Treaty of Versailles signed at the end of World War I. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe)
1935: In Daventry, England, Robert Watson-Watt first demonstrated the use of radar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Watson-Watt)
1993: World Trade Center bombing: A van rented by Ramzi Yousef exploded in the underground garage of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing six and injuring more than a thousand. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramzi_Yousef)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
"The true division of humanity is between those who live in light and those who live in darkness. Our aim must be to diminish the number of the latter and increase the number of the former. That is why we demand education and knowledge." -- Victor Hugo (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo)