Dozens killed in fresh Ugandan violence

Rebels hacked at least 17 people to death in northern Uganda, a senior government official said today.

Rebels hacked at least 17 people to death in northern Uganda, a senior government official said today.

However, residents reported the deaths of up to 53 villagers in the same district.

The latest violence comes less than two weeks after LRA rebel fighters hacked and burned to death up to 60 civilians in the same district.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said today military pressure was the only way to end the country's 17 year-old insurgency.

READ MORE

The LRA, led by self-proclaimed mystic and prophet Joseph Kony, has waged war against the Uganda government since 1986. The rebels are notorious for slicing off the limbs and lips of their victims and for snatching thousands of children for use as sex slaves and frontline fighters.

The government deployed 14,000 troops backed by helicopter gunships and tanks against the rebels last year, but LRA attacks have intensified and pushed further south towards Kampala.