Museveni reactivates LDU as terror attacks mount in west
By Priscilla Maloba
President Museveni yesterday condemned the deadly Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) Tuesday attack on a small village in Kamwenge District, western Uganda, denouncing the attackers as“pigs [who] will pay for their crimes”.
With 10 people confirmed to have been hacked to death in the bloody raid, the President also announced he has ordered the army to redeploy auxilliary support troops in the Rwenzori Sub-region to counter an upsurge in ADF terrorist activity across the area.
“On account of these repeated atrocities by these infiltrators from Congo, I have directed the UPDF to reactivate the force of the LDUs (Local Defence Units) in the areas surrounding Queen Elizabeth National Parks, Kibaale For-
est, the forests in Kyenjojo and Kagadi, Semuliki National Park and Bwindi National Park,”Mr Museveni said in a press statement.
The President explained that since the terrorists are carrying out coward ly attacks on soft targets (unarmed civilians),“we are reactivating our old method of transforming the village soft targets into lethal local hard points”.
“We are not short of manpower. It only means deploying more resources to sup- port the manpower,”he said.
In recent months, suspected ADF militants have carried out an increasing number of attacks on civilians in mainly Kasese District, including the horrific June 16 slaughter at Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Secodnary School in which 37 students lost their lives.The army says these attacks are part of a desperate bid by the militants,under pressure from the UPDF in the Congo,to divert attention.
President Museveni also gave his latest update on the ongoing Ugandan army counterinsurgency operations against ADF elements in the DR Congo, announcing more aerial bombardments on targets across the border.
The President also said he has directed the State House Comptroller (SHC) to send financial support to families that lost their loved ones in the Kamwenge massacre.
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