Ugandan Troops Hunt Rebel Killers

Government troops swept through villages in northern Uganda yesterday hunting rebels who were responsible for killing more than 200 refugees in one of the worst atrocities of recent years.

As the death toll continued to rise, the government was also having to reappraise its strategy of arming local militias to defend civilians against the fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army.

Survivors of the massacre at the Barlonyo refugee camp near Lira in northern Uganda said that the rebels quickly overcame the small group of militiamen assigned to defend them. Some rebels were wearing militia uniforms, witnesses said, which initially lulled suspicions.

A similar tactic was employed in an attack on another refugee camp this month, when rebels wearing Ugandan army uniforms sat down to watch a football match with their intended victims before carrying out a massacre.

Alfred Komakech, militiaman, said: "While we were fighting the main group, another group who were wearing [militia] uniforms went round the back and they were telling people, 'don't worry - stay calm. Just go inside your homes and we will protect you.' Then they started shooting and burning people alive in their huts."

The Ugandan military has struggled to counter the LRA's hit-and-run tactics and has proved reluctant to track the rebels through the bush.

In response to the apparent failures of the military, the government has trained and armed about 8,000 civilians as militia in recent weeks. Parades of militiamen brandishing new AK-47s have been staged on Ugandan television, where they have been hailed as national heroes.

But while militia have achieved some successes against the LRA, the rebels have demonstrated their continued ability to strike at civilian targets with impunity.

Father Sebhat Ayele, who helped evacuate survivors, said: "This is a clear message to the government that the rebels are still strong and capable of doing as they please against a defenceless population."

An army spokesman, Major Shaban Bantariza, said the attack was aimed at discouraging the formation of new militia groups.

Survivors were brought to nearby Lira hospital to be treated for burns, shrapnel and bullet wounds.

Molly Auma, 26, sat in the hospital with bandages over her right hand. She said her fingers had been blown away by a grenade blast.

"The rebels came into my hut and shot me in my bed, but I managed to get out," she said, nursing her 10-month-old son who had a bullet wound in his right shoulder.

"They chased me into a nearby house, but I fell on the floor. They thought I was dead so they let me go. I was carrying my baby on my shoulder and that's how he got shot as well."

Fighting between government forces and rebels has forced more than a million people to flee into camps in northern Uganda.

Uganda's army chief vowed yesterday to hunt down the rebels, who overpowered about 45 local militiamen guarding the camp, which houses several thousand people.

The LRA says it is fighting to defend the rights of the northern Acholi people but has never made a detailed public statement of its demands.

The movement, led by the former altar boy and self-proclaimed mystic Joseph Kony, has abducted tens of thousands of children for use as fighters and sex slaves.