It seems a few months since the Kony video went viral and he still has not been caught...
May 13, 2012 11:03 AM ET
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander Caesar Achellam is a major general in LRA leader Joseph Kony's outfit. (James Akena/Reuters)
Ugandan forces captured a senior commander of Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army after a brief fight with rebels near the Congo-Central African Republic border, an army official said Sunday, in what an analyst said was an "intelligence coup" for forces hunting for Kony.
Lt. Col. Abdul Rugumayo, intelligence chief for Uganda's military operation against the LRA, said Caesar Acellam was captured Saturday with two other rebel fighters as they tried to cross a river called Mbomu.
Although Acellam is not one of the LRA commanders indicted along with Kony in 2005 by the International Criminal Court, Ugandan officials say he was one of Kony's top military strategists and a reliable fighter.
Acellam has been with the LRA for over 20 years.
The official said Kony, who Ugandan officials suspect to be hiding somewhere in Sudan, has traditionally lived in bush camps significantly far from where his top commanders hide, apparently as a security precaution.
Lt. Col. Abdul Rugumayo, intelligence chief for Uganda's military operation against the LRA, said Caesar Acellam was captured Saturday with two other rebel fighters as they tried to cross a river called Mbomu.
Although Acellam is not one of the LRA commanders indicted along with Kony in 2005 by the International Criminal Court, Ugandan officials say he was one of Kony's top military strategists and a reliable fighter.
Acellam has been with the LRA for over 20 years.
The official said Kony, who Ugandan officials suspect to be hiding somewhere in Sudan, has traditionally lived in bush camps significantly far from where his top commanders hide, apparently as a security precaution.
Kony recently became the focus of international attention after the U.S. advocacy group Invisible Children made an online video seeking to make him famous.
In 2005 the ICC indicted Kony, along with four other LRA commanders, for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Two of them have since died.
Last year U.S. President Barack Obama sent 100 troops to help regional governments eliminate the LRA. Only about 200 LRA members remain in the jungle, according to Ugandan officials.
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