Conflict Areas

 The concept behind the Arrow Boys preceded the LRA’s most recent arrival in Sudan. Originally, the Ugandan government, seeing its shortcomings in combating the LRA, supported the creation of the Arrow Boys in northern Uganda to protect the local communities. The title of this local militia came from the primary weapon used by its members. In southern Sudan, the Arrow Boys seem to have sprung up more spontaneously.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, continues to pose a severe threat to civilians in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Since the LRA began attacking civilians on Congolese soil in September of 2008 through the end of 2009, it has killed approximately 1,800 civilians,   with 300 deaths during December 2009.  More than 100 people were killed during January 2010.

As the ink still dries on a preliminary deal between the Government of Sudan and Darfur’s largest rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement, the situation at the Darfur peace talks in Doha, Qatar is changing rapidly. Here’s an update capturing what we are hearing from various sources in Doha or close to the talks, recognizing that the situation remains highly fluid.

In December I travelled to Walikale territory, the vast and remote region of North Kivu, scene of much of the fighting during the past year, and home to some of the region’s most lucrative mines. This is the second of two Field Dispatches looking at the crisis in eastern Congo on the ground.

In a trip to Democratic Republic of the Congo in December 2009, Enough researchers found abundant evidence of brutal ongoing violence committed by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA. This is the first of two dispatches based upon my visit to Haut Uele.