2008–2009 Garamba offensive

Attack on the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency April 2014 April 2014 2008–2009 Garamba offensive the Lord's Resistance Army insurgency 14 December 2008 – 15 March 2009 (12 14 2008 03 15 2009) North-Eastern DR Congo Unclear UgandaSouth SudanDR Congo Lord's Resistance Army Uganda Yoweri Museveni Joseph Kony Uganda 1,300 troopsYves Boussen Rwandan, Ugandan troops to quit Congo by end Feb 31 January 2009 31 May 2026 Reuters via ReliefWeb https://reliefweb.int/report/democratic-republic-congo/rwandan-ugandan-troops-quit-congo-end-feb Unknown Unknown Estimated 146+ rebels killedBarbara Among Ninety Days of War in Garamba Forest http://allafrica.com/stories/200902150006.html New Vision 13 March 2009 18 March 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090219195005/http://allafrica.com/stories/200902150006.html 19 February 2009 live dmy-all The 2008–2009 Garamba offensive (codenamed Operation Lightning Thunder) started on 14 December 2008, when joint Ugandan, DR Congolese and Southern Sudanese forces launched a botchedLitell, Jonathan (15 April 2014) Sign Warfare https://web.archive.org/web/20150905143256/http://www.asymptotejournal.com/article.php?cat=Nonfiction&id=63 5 September 2015 Asymptote, (translated from a French article in Le Monde), Retrieved 16 April 2014 military attack against the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Garamba region of DR Congo.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7782649.stm Armies 'strike at Uganda rebels' BBC News 14 December 2008 12 January 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20081223000927/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7782649.stm 23 December 2008 live dmy-all Background In June 2008, after the LRA had attacked and killed 23 people in Southern Sudan, including 14 soldiers, a Ugandan military spokesman said Uganda, DR Congo and Sudan would launch a joint offensive against the LRA if its leader, Joseph Kony, failed to commit to the Juba peace talks. Concurrently, the Southern Sudanese Information Minister, Gabriel Changson, declared that "The LRA have started war", and that "Southern Sudan will not be the place where they can wage this war".Skye Wheeler Sudan says Uganda rebels kill troops, start "war" http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07578542.htm Reuters 7 June 2008 18 March 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20080612231855/http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07578542.htm 12 June 2008 live dmy-all The same month, diplomats reported that the LRA had acquired new weapons and was forcibly recruiting new soldiers, adding 1,000 recruits to the 600 soldiers it already had.Ugandan rebels 'prepare for war' http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7440790.stm BBC News 6 June 2008 18 March 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090222035537/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7440790.stm 22 February 2009 live dmy-all An onslaught against the LRA by Ugandan forces in northern Uganda and across the border in Southern Sudan, led the rebels to relocate to the densely forested Garamba National Park in DR Congo – and when they attacked and killed civilians there, the Congolese government vowed to destroy the LRA.Henry Mukasa Ugandan rebels 'prepare for war' http://allafrica.com/stories/200901030012.html New Vision 2 January 2009 18 March 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20121007161342/http://allafrica.com/stories/200901030012.html 7 October 2012 live dmy-all The operation In November 2008, the US President George W. Bush personally signed the directive to the United States Africa Command to provide assistance financially and logistically to the Ugandan government during the offensive. Jeffrey Gettleman and Eric Schmitt U.S. Aided a Failed Plan to Rout Ugandan Rebels https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/africa/07congo.html?pagewanted=all 6 February 2009 12 March 2012 The New York Times https://web.archive.org/web/20120309155645/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/world/africa/07congo.html?pagewanted=all 9 March 2012 live dmy-all The United States military helped in the planning stages of the operation, and also provided financial and technical support in the form of satellite phones and fuel. On 14 December 2008, a statement announcing the operation was released in the Ugandan capital Kampala by the intelligence chiefs of the armed forces of the three countries: the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). "The three armed forces successfully attacked the main body and destroyed the main camp of Joseph Kony, code-named Camp Swahili, setting it on fire," the statement said. The Ugandan government stated on 21 December 2008, that 70% of the LRA's camps had been destroyed so far.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7794399.stm Uganda 'strikes LRA rebel camps' BBC News 21 December 2008 12 January 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20081224100227/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7794399.stm 24 December 2008 live dmy-all However it was also reported that these camps were already empty when they were attacked.Paterno, Steve (12 February 2009) The Uganda LRA allowed to plunder https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221607/http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?page=imprimable&id_article=30154 3 March 2016 Sudan Tribune, Retrieved 24 April 2014 On 24 December 2008 Uganda said one of its MiG-21http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/2008_Losses.htm 2008 Losses 16 September 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090416032238/http://ejection-history.org.uk/PROJECT/YEAR_Pages/2008_Losses.htm 16 April 2009 dead dmy-all fighter aircraft crashed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "The pilot, Bosco Opiyo, failed to recover the plane from diving and plunged into the ground, dying instantly, and the craft also caught fire. The accident is purely a technical accident", said Ugandan Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda.http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/12/24/africa/OUKWD-UK-UGANDA-AIRCRAFT.php Archived copy 16 September 2009 16 May 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200516040226/http://www.iht.com/articles/reuters/2008/12/24/africa/OUKWD-UK-UGANDA-AIRCRAFT.php dead By early January 2009, according to a Congolese official, the LRA was routed, had lost most of its food supply, and was on the run and very close to the border of the Central African Republic, which had reinforced troops at the border.https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBEVjtlm81smuwIuDxjgku8240QQ https://archive.today/20120731102838/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBEVjtlm81smuwIuDxjgku8240QQ dead 31 July 2012 LRA rebels fleeing towards Central African Republic AFP 2 January 2009 12 January 2009 However, other reports indicated that the LRA had split up into smaller units and, in reprisals against the offensive, the LRA attacked civilians they suspected of supporting the operation, raping, mutilating and killing villagers.Haken, Nate and Taft, Patricia (26 October 2011) https://archive.today/20140424175750/http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/basic/Commentary/Opinion/2011/1026/Obama-must-learn-from-past-mistakes-in-fight-against-Uganda-s-LRA Obama must learn from past mistakes in fight against Uganda's LRA Christian Science Monitor, Retrieved 24 April 2014UN: More than 100 killed in massacre by Ugandan rebels http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-01-29-un-more-than-100-killed-in-massacre-by-ugandan-rebels Mail & Guardian Online 29 January 2009 18 March 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090303224101/http://mg.co.za/article/2009-01-29-un-more-than-100-killed-in-massacre-by-ugandan-rebels 3 March 2009 live dmy-all Ugandan withdrawal On 15 March 2009, Uganda abruptly ended its participation in the offensive and began withdrawing its troops from Garamba. The withdrawal, according to Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta, the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, was due to an agreement signed with DR Congo. During a handover ceremony in Garamba, the DR Congo Chief of General Staff, Gen. Didier Etumba Longila, said Congo would continue hunting the LRA until they were neutralisedBenon Herbert Oluka Tabu Butagira Uganda: Army ends hunt for Kony and LRA Daily Monitor 16 March 2009 25 April 2014 http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/18065.html https://web.archive.org/web/20140426215516/http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/18065.html 26 April 2014 dead dmy-all although one source described the Congolese army units allocated to the task as poorly trained and underpaid soldiers who often preyed on the villagers they were meant to be protecting. The LRA continued to terrorise areas in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan.(1 January 2011) Uganda violence https://web.archive.org/web/20140424211035/http://www.trust.org/spotlight/Uganda-violence/?source=search 24 April 2014 Thomson Reuters Foundation, Retrieved 24 April 2014 References Category:Lord's Resistance Army Garamba Garamba Category:Battles involving the Democratic Republic of the Congo Category:Sudan People's Liberation Movement Category:Battles involving Uganda Garamba Garamba