![Joseph Kony, right, has been in hiding since 2006 for fear of arrest [EPA]](http://mwcnews.net/images/stories/Africa/1/1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/Joseph-Kony.jpg "Joseph Kony, right, has been in hiding since 2006 for fear of arrest [EPA]") | | Joseph Kony, right, has been in hiding since 2006 for fear of arrest [EPA] |
The government of Uganda has said peace talks to end a two decades of conflict with the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have failed.
Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's president, on Thursday announced an agreement with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan to fight the rebel group, led by Joseph Kony.
"Since peace talks have failed, we are going to use the only language Kony understands, and that is of the gun," Ruth Nankabirwa, Uganda's deputy defence minister, said.
Joint operations against Kony's group are to be headed by the DRC army, backed by the United Nations mission there, Paddy Ankunda, a Ugandan army spokesman said.
'Last chance'
James Obita, the LRA's chief negotiator, said that the decision to attack the LRA thwarts peace efforts.
"Any sensible person considers such agreement by those parties to use military option against the LRA as not good for peace," he said. "Let them give us the last chance - it is pointless for them to refuse to talk peace" James Obita, LRA chief negotiator
Kony failed to show up for the signing of a final accord with the Ugandan government on April 10 in southern Sudan, saying he needed more information on criminal charges against him and other LRA members, as well as details on disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration of his fighters.
The Lord's Resistance Army, formed more than 20 years ago, has become notorious for murder and rape in northern Uganda, and abducting children to become soldiers.
The government and the rebel army have been trying to reach a peace deal for the past two years, but the talks have been marked by walkouts by negotiators.
Kony, fearing arrest, has stayed in hiding since 2006. He is believed to be in the jungle between Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan with his fighters.
Twenty years of fighting have left tens of thousands dead and displaced two million people, mainly in northern Uganda. Several thousand have also been killed in southern Sudan, where the LRA has camps.
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