Uganda rebels kill 900 during AFRICOM-backed operation

Uganda rebels kill 900 during AFRICOM-backed operation
Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, February 8, 2009

U.S. Africa Command helped plan a recent offensive carried out by Ugandan forces on a rebel group hiding out in a Congolese forest, but the maneuver failed to accomplish its objective as the rebels scattered in retreat and massacred as many as 900 civilians as they fled, The New York Times reported on Friday.

Seventeen advisers and analysts from AFRICOM worked closely with Ugandan officers on the mission, providing satellite phones, intelligence and $1 million in fuel, the Times reported.

U.S. troops did not participate in the fighting. However, villagers complained that the Ugandans and the Congolese troops who conducted the assault did little to protect nearby villages from the fleeing rebels, according to the Times.

The troops failed to seal off escape routes or send soldiers to many nearby towns where the rebels slaughtered civilians.


Article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=60563