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SUDAN-UGANDA: Allan, "They call me tong-tong"
30 Jun 2009 13:20:19 GMT
 Source: IRIN

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•  Uganda violence

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JUBA, 30 June 2009 (IRIN) - Allan (not real name) was 10 when he was abducted in 1999 by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from a refugee camp in Adjumani, northern Uganda.

Ten years later, he was shot in the back during fighting and helped by Sudanese soldiers, when Allan's return to his hometown of Juba began. But Allan continues to face hostility from relatives and neighbours in the capital of Southern Sudan. He spoke to IRIN on 29 June:

"LRA rebels abducted me when they raided 20 refugee sites in Adjumani. I underwent rigorous training, learnt how to use a gun and to be a fearless soldier. My trainers promised I would be promoted to commander one day.

"In 2005, I was part of the units that left Southern Sudan and went to [the Democratic Republic of] Congo [DRC]. Life had become difficult because we were attacked, all the time, by the Sudanese People's Liberation Army and the UPDF [Uganda People's Defence Force]. We had no food as we no longer received supplies.

"In DRC, life was fairly easy until December 2008 when Operation Lightning Thunder was launched [by the militaries of Uganda, DRC and Southern Sudan]. I was in the command brigade guarding LRA leader Joseph Kony.

"It was during this operation that I was shot in March 2009 in an airfield in Maridi [Southern Sudan]. Our group, numbering 20, had been sent back to Sudan to scout for a new hideout; we got lost and ended up at the airfield. We were surrounded and fought for about four hours.

"I don't know how I got out of the battle and ended up in someone's home. People in the house had fled but the following morning a man found me lying in the compound in pain. I had my gun and when he saw me he started running but I shouted in Arabic, calling him back.

"He came back with two SPLA soldiers. I surrendered my gun, telling them I was Sudanese. The man later took me to the UPDF base where I was treated. I remained at the base for two days before I was brought to Kampala [Ugandan capital] where I got better treatment.

"Later, I was taken to a rehabilitation centre where my parents picked me up. My mother had grown very old, she cried when she saw me as she had thought I was dead.

"Now I am back home in Juba. Nobody wants to be my friend because they say I was one of the LRA rebels. They call me 'tong-tong', meaning cutting people with a panga. There is nothing I can do; all I want is to go back to school. Maybe after school I will get a job.

"I fear going to my village in Pajeri because people are fighting over land there. My mother said I should not worry what my friends say about me being in the LRA because it was not my wish."

ca/js/mw

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