Ugandan rebels 'massacre' civilians

An army offensive has failed to end the attacks

Details have emerged of the massacre of dozens of people in the north of Uganda carried out by the rebels' Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

The army says the rebels were in the process of boiling body parts when it launched a counterattack, forcing the rebels into retreat.

President Yoweri Museveni recently said the rebels would be defeated but warned it may take until March next year.

Meanwhile the rebels have continued their attacks on the civilian population.

The LRA has been fighting the government for 16 years and says it is seeking to rule Uganda according to the Biblical Ten Commandments.

Women and children

According to the Ugandan army spokesman, at least 34 people were killed when the rebels attacked the villages of Awolo and Latugitugi, in the Pader district.

The Ugandan army says that the villagers were either killed with machetes or clubs.

"They killed indiscriminately families they found sleeping in their homes, including women and children," an army spokesman, Lieutenant Paddy Ankunda, told the French news agency, AFP.

The army says it captured one of the rebels when it launched a counterattack.

Precedents

A week ago, at least 52 people were killed in a similar attack in the same area.

A rare picture of LRA leader Joseph Kony

Earlier this year, the Ugandan army pursued LRA forces into Sudan, which had previously backed the rebels, and vowed to crush them once and for all.

But this offensive only pushed the rebels deeper into Ugandan territory.

The LRA frequently abduct civilians, either boys to serve as fighters, or girls as sex slaves for rebel commanders.