May's Mostly Warfare Blog : LRA Insurgent Group

Joesph Kony's infamous Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) originated from remnants of the defeated Holy Spirit Movement (HSM). The LRA original claims were to protect the Acholi people from Ugandan government abuses (the government army at the time was infamous for its indiscipline and brutality) and create a government based on Moses 10 Commandments with Kony being the Spirit Medium of God. The LRA manged to survive several routs by the hands of the Ugandan army, only to rebuild its strength by abducting more victims into its ranks. However the LRA's behavior quickly became deviant, with ironically the vast majority of the LRA's victims BEING Acholi. Common atrocities include amputation of limbs, mutilations that include cutting off of fingers, noses, ears, and gouging out eyes. Victims abducted (most infamously young children) by the LRA are often forced to kill loved ones (like a parent) in order to desensitize them to violence. The LRA has also used (both male and female) child combatants on a massive scale (one statistic claimed that abducted children make up as much as 90% of the LRA). Female child combatants double as combatants and sex slaves for LRA fighters. The LRA forces pregnant girls to give birth in order to make escaping the group more difficult. The LRA gained Western infamy because of its practice of deploying abducted children as combatants (the LRA have been known to use children as young as 5 as fighters). The LRA's predatory behavior encouraged several self defense groups like the Arrow Boys of Uganda and a tribal militia in the Congo.

Because of Ugandan support of Sudanese rebel groups like the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the Sudanese government gave its support to the LRA, along with other Ugandan rebel groups. Other Ugandan rebel groups with Sudanese support include the Alliance Democratic Forces (ADF), Ugandan National Rescue Front factions (UGRF I and II), and the West Nile Bank Front (UNBF). As a consequence of Sudanese support for the LRA, the LRA became a bitter enemy of the SPLA. Fighting between the groups occurred even after their perspective backers stooped supporting them. Sudanese support for the LRA also caused its ideology to blur even more. In order to please the Islamic government in Sudan, the LRA introduced Islamic style prayers to its religious life.

The current status of the LRA is basically the reside in neighboring countries like the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Most attacks in Uganda now are just nothing more then an occasional abduction or a raid on some village.

The military uniforms worn by many of these fighters is possibly because of supplies by the Sudanese government. It could also be because of fighters scavenging uniforms from corpses of government troops.

Dreadlocks seem to be common among LRA fighters. It might be a cultural thing or an identification among LRA rebels. I don't know the reason for it.

The boy shows the young age of several LRA fighters. He is also in civilian clothing, meaning that contact with the Sudanese government with his unit must be limited.