The UN Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned the increasingly recent attacks by the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan, which continue to brutalize civilians, and
called on the armed rebel group to surrender.
In a statement read out by Tomas Mayr-Harting of Austria, who holds the rotating Council presidency for November, the Security Council "reiterated the demands that the LRA immediately cease all attacks on civilians and urge them to surrender, dissemble and disarm as required by the Final Peace Agreement."
Commending the states in the region for their "increased cooperation," the 15-nation Security Council "welcomed the joint efforts they have made to address the serious threat posed by the LRA and encouraged them to cooperate fully with the UN."
The statement came after the Security Council met on Tuesday morning behind closed doors to discuss the current situation in the Great Lakes
region.
The Final Peace Agreement was negotiated between the Ugandan government and the LRA, but the LRA's leader Joseph Kony has repeatedly failed to sign the deal, citing indictments and arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as obstacles.
The rebel group's over two-decade insurgency, which has waged as one of the longest guerrilla wars in Africa, has left tens of thousands of people dead and some two million more homeless in northern Uganda, reports said.