DR Congo commander declares LRA matter of history

The Ugandan rebel group, Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), is now "history," the Central African country's military has declared. The optimism was voiced on Friday by the commander of the 9th military region of the DR Congo Armed Forces (FARDC), general Celestin Kifua. "The LRA is part of history. It no longer exists in our country, " he said, affirming that some of its residual groups are operating from the Central African Republic. General Kifua made the remarks while commenting on the prevailing security situation in eastern DR Congo, since Friday's launch of the campaigns for the presidential and parliamentary elections. Kifua said the situation was calm in the eastern province of Orientale and the campaigns were going on well. Roaming across the Central African Republic, South Sudan and DR Congo since 2005 after operating for over 10 years in northern Uganda, the LRA is held responsible for atrocities in these countries. Last week, the U.S. sent a team of 100 American special forces to the Ugandan capital Kampala to support the regional army in the fight against the LRA. "Even though the American troops are well equipped to fight, they will not engage in combat with the LRA forces unless if it's for the sake of self-defense," U.S. President Barack Obama said. He said the majority of the military advisors and trainers will be deployed to Uganda, with the rest to be sent to the Central African Republic, South Sudan and the northeastern region of DR Congo.