Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to jointly fight the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels if peace talks with its elusive leader Joseph Kony fail, a military official said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Kony snubbed mediators in April after raising hopes that he would sign a peace deal to end over two decades of war in Uganda's north that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced two million more. "The three countries have agreed to launch military operations against Joseph Kony and his men, because he has demonstrated that he is not interested in peace at all," said Major Paddy Ankunda, Uganda's military spokesman. "As usual Kony has used the peace process to recruit, abduct and rearm himself to fight on," he added. The military chiefs of the three countries finalised the deal on Tuesday. Uganda has called for a multinational regional force in the past. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ios due on Thursday to make a national address, in which, officials said, he would try to convince Ugandans why a military offensive is needed. A security source in Kampala said that Kony had established bases in Congo and the Central African Republic. The rebels have also used Sudan as a base in the past.
