Monday, 24 March 2014 - 13:18
US renews hunt on Kony
American president Barack Obama has ordered a renewal of military action in Uganda, to try and put an end to the ongoing hunt for warlord Joseph Kony. He is wanted for trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
The US is sending in 150 Air Force Special Operations forces to Uganda, and sent US military aircrafts to the region for the first time, to breathe new life into the search for the warlord, the Washington Post reports.
A CV-22 Osprey aircraft will arrive in Uganda this week, along with a refueling aircraft, militaries, and other airmen to fly and maintain the planes. This is all in the hopes of finally being able to catch Kony, who is currently still active in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Kony, along with his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) are active in the central African region, mutilating and attacking civilians and abducting children to forcefully recruit into the army.
Joseph Kony became a household name two years ago, when the KONY2012 video explaining the situation surrounding the warlord, went viral. KONY2012 protests spread across the globe, and donations were made to the organizations in place trying to hunt him down.
It is now thought that Kony, and the 250 army forces he is thought to have left, are hiding in the Central African Republic, which is an area that has undergone much upheaval in recent times, and is now virtually without government.