Uganda has withdrawn its army from the jungles of Central Africa Republic (CAR) where it has been hunting rebel leader Joseph Kony since 2012.
The first batch of UPDF to pull out of CAR was received today in Gulu by chief of staff land forces Brig Katsigazi Tumusime.
According the army publicist Brig Richard Karemire, UPDF took the decision to pull out as part of African Union Region Task Force because the dreaded LRA leader is “weak”, and no longer.
The LRA was notorious for chopping off people’s limbs and abducting children to use as soldiers and sex slaves.
Kony, wanted on war crimes charges, first emerged in Uganda but fled more than a decade ago.
“LRA capacity and means of making war against Uganda have been degraded,” Karemire in adds in a statement.
Kony roamed the jungles of the Democratic Republic of Congo, before moving to CAR.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in 2005, accusing him of war crimes.
The Ugandan army, backed by US special forces and African Union (AU) troops, have been searching for him in CAR since 2012.
USA withdrew its forces last month.
Most of Kony’s commanders surrendered, including Dominic Ongwen who is on trial at the ICC on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Karemire added that UPDF has successfully achieved its mission to neutralise the LRA and its troops would withdraw from CAR
“Joseph Kony with less than 100 armed fighters is now weak and ineffective. He no longer poses any significant threat to Uganda’s security and northern Uganda in particular,” he said.