US sending more forces to seek Uganda’s Kony

Barack Obama's administration is sending about 150 special forces troops along with military aircraft to Uganda to help in the search for warlord Joseph Kony, the White House said early Monday.

The deployments began on Sunday night, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, after the administration began to notify Congress.

The White House said early Monday the United States is sending "a limited number" of CV-22 Osprey, refueling aircraft and "associated support personnel" to assist local forces in their long-running battle against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA. Obama sent about 100 U.S. troops to help the African forces in 2011.

U.S. personnel were authorized to "provide information, advice and assistance" to an African Union force tracking Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army, according to the Post.

National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said early Monday the additional support would enable the African Union "to conduct targeted operations to apprehend remaining LRA combatants."

"Our African partners have consistently identified airlift as one of their greatest limiting factors as they search for and pursue the remaining LRA leaders across a wide swath of one of the world's poorest, least governed and most remote regions," Hayden said.

The aircraft would be based in Uganda but will be used in LRA-affected areas of the Central African Republic, Congo and South Sudan to support the African Union's regional task force, Hayden said.

"The deployment of these aircraft and personnel does not signify a change in the nature of the U.S. military advisory role in this effort," Hayden said. "African Union-led regional forces remain in the lead, with U.S. forces supporting and advising their efforts."

A 5,000-strong AU Regional Task Force, supported by about 100 U.S. Special Forces, has been hunting Kony and his fighters. Most of them are thought to be hiding in jungles straddling the borders of Central African Republic, South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo.

LRA fighters, who emerged in northern Uganda in the late 1980s, are known for using extreme violence, including chopping off limbs as a form of punishment, as well as raping young girls and abducting them for use as sex slaves.

The Post quoted administration officials as saying the deployment did not signal the White House was weakening its criticism of new anti-gay legislation in Uganda that imposes harsh penalties for homosexuality.

Since last month's enactment of the anti-gay legislation, Washington has said it is reviewing its relationship with Uganda's government. 

Wire services