National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU)

<a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=CG">Congo, Democratic Republic of the</a>, <a href="terrorist_organizations_by_country.asp?id=UG">Uganda</a>

The National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (NALU) is militant group that seeks to overthrow the long-standing Ugandan government led by President Yoweri Museveni.  Since their formation in 1988, NALU forces have been engaged in armed conflict in the northern and western regions of the country with the Ugandan People's Defense Forces (UPDF), the military of the Ugandan government.  NALU fighters have also staged attacks on civilian populations and small villages, a tactic consistently used by other Ugandan rebel groups.  In 1998, a suspected suicide bombing claimed by NALU killed a busload of thirty people in Kampala, the capital of Uganda.  Not only are innocent civilians targeted by groups like NALU, but they have also been occupied and displaced by the UPDF as they search for rebel fighters and supplies.  <P><br />In 2005, the Ugandan government extended an amnesty to several rebel groups, including NALU.  It was their hope that the majority of fighters would surrender and disarm in exchange for avoiding prosecution, but in reality less than fifty NALU members showed up.  This failed attempt has increased the efforts of the UPDF to attack rebel groups. <br />

Even though NALU activity has been minimal over the past five years, the group is still considered to be intact.  The group has since merged with the Allied Defense Forces (ADF), a militant group with similar ideologies, and moved its base deeper into the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Most recent accounts place these groups in North Kivu and the Rwenzori Mountains.  Uganda and regions of the eastern Congo are hoping to develop a joint military operation that would serve to eliminate all militant groups that are based on the Ugandan/Democratic Republic of Congo border.  This collaboration, which has not been approved mainly due to budgetary allocations, would allow the UPDF access to the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to seek out rebel bases.<P><br />Uganda's primary concern, however, remains the <a href="?id=3513">Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)</a> and the tenuous peace talks that are in development with them.  It stands to reason that if a lasting cease-fire and eventual disarmament can take place between the Ugandan government and the LRA, the other less powerful rebel groups may be compelled to follow suit.   <br /><br />