afrol News, 7 July - The Ugandan rebel group, Lord’s Resistance Army has began an offensive in Dimbiro village near Yambio in retaliation to the ongoing anti-LRA operations by the Ugandan army and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in the region.

Reports said hundreds of residents continue to flee their homes since last week as an offensive intensify in the southern region.

Deputy Governor Col Joseph Ngere said Ugandan rebels who have been fleeing justice, have raided a village and killed at least one person and abducting many other people while avoiding a multinational offensive.

"The state government deplores the LRA clandestine attacks. The government is doing its best to protect the innocent civilians from the LRA vicious attacks," Sudan Tribune quoted Mr Ngere.

Local residents said the LRA rebels have staged a series of attacks in the Western Equatoria villages, saying they are burning houses, looting and kidnap defenseless civilians.

Following the rejection of the LRA leader Joseph Kony to sign a peace agreement to end more than twenty years of civil war in Uganda, the Ugandan army backed by the Congolese and southern Sudan begun a joint offensive in mid December 2008 to force him to sign the peace deal.

However, the operation ended prematurely after three months amid opposition by Congolese activists saying the operation was putting civilians in danger.

Mr Kony has among his requests before he could ink the agreement, the scraping of the International Criminal Court warrant of arrest against him and three of his top commanders.

The Ugandan government believes the peace deal would end nearly two decades of war in northern Uganda which has killed thousands of people and left 2 million homeless.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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