• Kony 2013: Uganda suspends hunt for fugitive warlord

    Reuters / Stuart Price, pool

    Leader of the Lord's Resistance Army Joseph Kony is shown in 2006. His name became known worldwide with the "Kony 2012" campaign, launched by the charity Invisible Children. He and his commanders are accused of abducting thousands of children to use as fighters in a rebel army that earned a reputation for chopping off limbs as a form of discipline.

    By Elias Biryabarema, Reuters

    KAMPALA, Uganda -- Uganda has suspended the hunt for fugitive warlord Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army fighters, blaming hostility toward foreign troops by Central African Republic rebels who seized power last month.

    Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. He and his commanders are accused of abducting thousands of children to use as fighters in a rebel army that earned a reputation for chopping off limbs as a form of discipline.

    Uganda provides more than 3,000 troops for a 5,000-strong African Union force hunting Kony and his fighters, who are thought to be hiding in jungles straddling the borders of the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    A separate coalition of rebels in the Central African Republic, known as Seleka, toppled President Francois Bozize last month. They swept into the capital, Bangui, in a lightning offensive that triggered days of looting and drew international condemnation.

    The Seleka rebels also killed 13 South African soldiers during their attack on Bangui.

    "These rebels have been openly hostile to us and following that, the president (of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni) has ordered us only to be in defensive positions," said Dick Olum, head of Ugandan troops and overall commander of the force hunting Kony.

    A viral video that takes aim at African warlord Joseph Kony has racked up nearly 64 million views online. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports on the phenomenon.

    "So we've temporarily suspended offensive operations against the LRA for now until we receive further orders," he told Reuters on Wednesday.

    It was not immediately clear if troops from other countries in the regional force were also giving up the search. Ugandan media reported that about 100 U.S. special forces helping with intelligence and logistical support had suspended operations.

    Uganda's Daily Monitor newspaper quoted Crane Elise, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Kampala, as saying: "We have temporarily paused the operations against LRA to give us time to consult with the State Department."

    LRA fighters fought the Ugandan government for nearly two decades before being ejected from their strongholds in the north of the country in 2005, forcing them to establish bases in the jungles of other countries in the region.

    Jason Russell, the filmmaker behind the viral "KONY 2012" campaign, talks with TODAY's Ann Curry about why the video has moved so many young people, and assures her that his social movement is not merely "slacktivism."

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    Troops capture senior Kony commander

    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • 'Big fish' nabbed: Troops capture senior Kony commander

    James Akena / Reuters

    Caesar Achellam, center, is a close ally of rebel leader Joseph Kony and had masterminded the Lord's Resistance Army's relocation from northern Uganda, analysts say.

    By msnbc.com news services

    RIVER VOVODO, Central African Republic -- Uganda has captured one of the top five members of the Lord's Resistance Army, bringing it a step closer to catching Joseph Kony, the notorious rebel leader accused of war crimes, the military said on Sunday.

    The Ugandan army said it caught Caesar Achellam, a major general in Kony's outfit of about 200 fighters, in an ambush along the banks of the River Mbou in Central African Republic (CAR) on Saturday.

    Achellam was armed with just an AK-47 rifle and eight rounds of ammunition, a spokesman for the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), said. He was being held with his wife, a young daughter and a helper.

    Ugandan army Lt. Col. Abdul Rugumayo told The Associated Press that Achellam was in a group of about 30 LRA rebels. The others escaped.

    NYT: In vast jungle, US troops aid hunt for Kony

    Although Achellam is not one of the LRA commanders indicted along with Kony in 2005 by the International Criminal Court, Ugandan officials say he was Kony's top military strategist.

    In Gulu, the site of a 2004 massacre and warlord Joseph Kony's hometown, people are still terrorized that he might return. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports.

    The UPDF, which has a force hunting for Kony full-time in the jungles of CAR, backed by U.S. troops, said the capture of Achellam would encourage other fighters to abandon the LRA.

    "The arrest of Major General Caesar Achellam is big progress because he is a big fish," said UPDF spokesman Felix Kulaigye. "His capture is definitely going to cause an opinion shift within the LRA."

    In 'Kony' town, video is hardly a sensation

    Achellam, who was paraded before media, walked with a limp, which he attributed to an old wound. He was returning from the Democratic Republic of Congo when he walked into the soldiers' ambush. UPDF said it had been on his trail for a month.

    'Very troubling for Kony'
    Analysts said Achellam was a close ally of Kony and had masterminded the group's relocation from northern Uganda.

    "From whichever angle you look at it, the loss of Achellam should be very troubling for Kony and a big boost for his manhunt," said Angelo Izama, an analyst who has written extensively on the LRA.

    Sequel to 'Kony 2012' video released

    Kony, a self-styled mystic leader who at one time wanted to rule Uganda according to the biblical Ten Commandments, fled northern Uganda in 2005, roaming first the lawless expanses of South Sudan, then the isolated northeastern tip of Congo.

    In 2005, NBC News correspondent Keith Morrison traveled to Uganda to report on a little-known war being waged by rebel leader Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). "Children of War" documented how the LRA systematically terrorized countless communities and abducted tens of thousands of children to fill its ranks.

    In December 2008, Uganda launched Operation Lightning Thunder against the LRA, dispersing the rebels and pushing them north into CAR.

    Sex slaves
    The rebels live in the jungles of CAR surviving on wild yams, stolen cattle and drinking from rivers.

    Kony is accused of abducting children to use as fighters and sex slaves and is said to have a fondness for hacking off limbs.

    A viral video that takes aim at African warlord Joseph Kony has racked up nearly 64 million views online. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports on the phenomenon.

    A 30-minute YouTube video by California-based film-maker Jason Russell calling for the arrest of Kony swept across the Internet in March, attracting tens of millions of views, bringing the LRA's atrocities to the attention of many people previously unaware of the group's existence.

    How the 'Kony 2012' video went viral

    The Ugandan government, the African Union and the United States all stepped up their commitment to the hunt for Kony in the wake of the outrage caused by the video, "Kony 2012".

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  • Sequel to 'Kony 2012' video released

     

    By Reuters

    The group Invisible Children released a new video on Thursday as a follow-up to the viral "Kony 2012" film aimed at focusing global awareness on atrocities attributed to Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army.

    "We want people to dig deeper into this conflict and actively engage in the solutions," Ben Keesey, CEO of Invisible Children, said in a statement announcing the new 20-minute video: "Kony 2012: Part II - Beyond Famous." He said the newest video is "a call to turn global awareness into informed action."

    The sequel was originally supposed to air on April 3, but for an unknown reason the group pushed the release date back to April 5.

    'KONY 2012' sequel postponed

    The "Kony 2012" film became an Internet sensation last month, racking up more than 86 million hits on YouTube since it was posted. Its success has been hailed for inspiring young people to activism, but has been criticized for oversimplifying the long-standing human rights crisis in the region.

    It also has put Invisible Children and Jason Russell, the organization's public face, in the spotlight.

    That attention turned uncomfortable last month when Russell, the star and narrator of the first "Kony 2012" film, suffered a public meltdown in California that doctors described as a brief psychotic breakdown.

    "We just thought it was going to be a lot harder to make people care," the organization's Director of Idea Development, Jedidiah Jenkins, told Reuters in an earlier interview. "Most 16-year-olds do not want to hear about warlords in Africa."

     The conflict is not limited to Uganda, but has long since spilled over into the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Kony was last sighted, and where other rebel groups and government forces have also been accused of atrocities.

    The Lord's Resistance Army also operates in South Sudan and the Central African Republic.

    "When you see something slick, when you see something that feels like propaganda, we're used to thinking that its selling something," Jenkins said. "You can sell something that is actually good and intelligent. It doesn't have to be a trick."

    Invisible Children said the new film provided a more in-depth look at the Lord's Resistance Army and outlines regional efforts to end violence in central Africa.

    "The LRA has abducted more than 50 people in central Africa since Kony 2012 was launched one month ago.

    "Now we have the opportunity to work together as a global community to help solve this issue," said Jolly Okot, Invisible Children's Uganda Country Director.

    On April 20, the group will sponsor a "Cover the Night" day of activism, in which supporters are expected to volunteer for five hours in their communities and promote the anti-Kony cause.

    Reuters contributed to this report.

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    Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

  • Thousands in Congo flee Joseph Kony's rebel army

    In Gulu, the site of a 2004 massacre and warlord Joseph Kony's hometown, people are still terrorized that he might return. NBC's Rohit Kachroo reports.

    By msnbc.com staff

    Thousands of villagers have abandoned their homes in the Democratic Republic of Congo to escape the notorious Lord's Resistance Army, the Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday.

    The villagers left everything and walked some 30 miles in the dead of night after an attack by Joseph Kony’s ruthless rebel army last month, the paper reported on its website.

    The displaced people remain fearful of returning home and remain in Dungu, a provincial hub in the northern part of the DRC, which now faces a growing humanitarian crisis.

    The LRA, and its leader, gained worldwide exposure recently because of the “Kony 2012” video release by a U.S. group known as Invisible Children. The video has been viewed on the YouTube social video site nearly 87 million times.

    LRA fighters have committed massacres, mutilations and mass rapes and kidnapped children and forced them into slavery, the Guardian reported.

    A Guardian reporter visited Dungu, where cell phone reception is spotty and access to the Internet is limited, and found little evidence anyone there has heard of the video. However, the reporter did find people fearful of the LRA.

    “People have been terrorized, seriously traumatized, by repeated attacks by the LRA and the violence and mutilation they have suffered,” Jorge Holly, head of the United Nations’ refugee agency in the region, told the Guardian.

    Invisible Children has come under scrutiny for the “Kony 2012” video, with many calling it an oversimplification of the complex LRA conflict in Uganda. The group said it planned to release a a sequel video on Tuesday detailing the use of children soldiers in the LRA in Uganda.

    The group has been trying to recovery after co-founder and filmmaker Jason Russell suffered a brief reactive psychosis, NBCSanDiego.com reported. Russell was discovered by police on March 15 in various stages of undress and behaving in a bizarre manner.

    Russell was detained and taken to a hospital. It could be months before he can return to Invisible Children, according to his wife Danica.

    NBCSanDiego.com contributed to this report.

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