Attacks by LRA vs Unidentified Armed Groups

The LRA's reduction in major abductions and killings in favor of small-scale lootings has made it increasingly difficult for protection actors to distinguish LRA raids from attacks committed by bandits, rogue Congolese soldiers, poachers, and other armed groups. Consequently, LRA activity contributes to a broader dynamic of insecurity in Haut Uele and Bas Uele districts that will likely persist in some form even if the LRA should end its attacks there. For example, Congolese soldiers committed a number of human rights abuses against civilians in the first six months of 2013, and even clashed with park rangers in Garamba National Park in one incident.

In LRA-affected areas of Congo in the first six months of 2013, the ratio of LRA attacks to those in which the armed group was unidentified (indicating the perpetrator could include the LRA, bandits, poachers, rogue Congolese soldiers, or other armed groups) was 64 to 37, compared to 223 to 86 in 2012.