Ugandan troops kill top rebel in Centr.Africa

KAMPALA (AFP) — Ugandan forces have killed a senior commander of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Central African Republic, the military spokesman told AFP Thursday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Felix Kulayigye said Okello Okutti was shot and killed on Tuesday during a clash with Ugandan troops in Obo, near the Central African Republic's eastern border with Sudan

"Okutti used to be the overall commander for LRA operations in Pader district, and he was a senior commander among the groups currently in CAR," Kulayigye said.


Through the 1990s, the LRA's activities were concentrated largely in northern Uganda, but when the army launched successive operations against them, parts of the group moved east.

Pader district, in northeast Uganda, where Okutti was the commander, was heavily attacked by the rebels in 2005 and early 2006.

Kulayigye said he believed Okutti was the only casualty during Tuesday's clash.
Ugandan special forces are currently hunting the LRA in the Democratic Republic of Congo, south Sudan and the Central African Republic.