Uganda mulls troops' continued stay in CAR

The Ugandan military on Monday said it will consider a request by the African Union (AU) to keep its troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) in the hunt for the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.

Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, the military spokesperson, told Xinhua by telephone that the high command will meet to decide whether to proceed with the October planned withdraw or extend the mandate of its contingent involved in the AU-led Regional Cooperation Initiative for the Elimination of LRA (RCI-LRA).

"We have received the AU request. We will study the merits of their request and respond accordingly," said Ankunda.

The AU Peace and Security Council last month requested Ugandan authorities to reconsider their decision to withdraw the over 2,000 soldiers.

The Council argued that the withdrawal could create a security vacuum, which the LRA and other rebel forces could exploit to escalate their activities in the region.

The Council recommended that the troops' mandate be extended up to May 2017.

The Ugandan authorities however believe that the LRA has been degraded and no longer has means to fight.

Uganda contributes over 2,000 troops to AU led RCI-LRA, which was launched in March 2012 to help in the elimination of the LRA and the stabilization of areas affected by the activities of LRA.

The LRA is a Ugandan rebel group, which was flashed out of the country in 2006 after a two-decade-long insurgency that left tens of thousands of people dead. Endit