New York - The UN Security Council on Tuesday "strongly condemned" the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), an armed rebel group notorious for atrocities committed in Africa's Great Lakes region. The council said LRA has caused deaths, abductions and displacement of thousands of civilians in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and Sudan and threatened relief work in those countries.
The council, which met to discuss the situation in the region, urged Great Lakes region's states to joint forces to fight LRA.
"The members of the Security Council call upon all states to ensure that all actions are carried out in accordance with international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law, and to take appropriate measures to protect civilians," the council said in a statement.
It called on UN organizations working in the region to coordinate strategies for, and information on, the protection of civilians in the face of LRA attacks. It demanded that the LRA immediately cease attacks on civilians and urged them to surrender and disarm as required by peace agreements with countries in the region.
