On the run for 20 years, Ugandan warlord Kony still 'active' within the Lord's Resistance Army

What the report says

France 24 Africa reports that the Lord’s Resistance Army, the Ugandan insurgent group led by Joseph Kony, has been linked to a recent series of attacks in eastern and southeastern Central African Republic. According to the article, local authorities are worried about a renewed pattern of village raids and child abductions, with at least 25 children reportedly taken in recent months. Kony, who has been wanted by the International Criminal Court for more than 20 years, remains at large.

The report says the LRA was driven out of Uganda in 2006 but continued to operate in remote border areas of Central Africa. Leonie von Braun, the ICC’s lead investigator on the Kony case, told France 24 that the group is now smaller than in the past, but still armed and capable of violence. She said the militia continues to use abductions and forced recruitment as a survival strategy, with children targeted because they can be indoctrinated and turned into fighters.

France 24 also notes that the LRA has a long history of massacres, kidnappings and displacement across northern Uganda and neighboring countries. The UN has previously estimated the conflict caused more than 100,000 deaths and displaced more than two million people, mainly in Uganda. The renewed concern matters because it shows the group has not fully disappeared and that civilians in isolated areas remain vulnerable.

The ICC official quoted in the piece said Kony is believed to still be alive and remains active within the organization, though likely not on the front line. The article frames the case as an important test for international justice, given the difficulty of arresting a fugitive rebel leader without a police force of its own.