Rebels kill 14 people in ambush in north Uganda


KAMPALA, May 29 (Reuters) - The rebel Lord's Resistance Army killed 14 people and injured 12 others in northern Uganda in an ambush on a bus and two other vehicles, an army spokesman said on Thursday.

"The rebels attacked with assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades ... killed 14 people on the spot," Major Shaban Bantariza said.

He said Ugandan soldiers rescued at least 50 other people from Wednesday's attack. Radio reports in Kampala said 60 people remained unaccounted for and were feared to have been abducted.

Led by self-styled prophet Joseph Kony, the LRA is reviled for maiming villagers and abducting children to use as sex slaves and child soldiers.

The ambush took place about 300 km (190 miles) north of the capital Kampala, just outside the Murchison Falls National Park which is visited by hundreds of tourists each year.

The Ugandan government is engaged in a year-long offensive against the LRA, supported by at least 14,000 troops, tanks and artillery, but has so far failed to crush the rebels' 17-year insurgency.


  
05/29/03 05:47 ET
   

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