Ugandan Rebels Abduct 90 Children in Congo

Fighters from Uganda’s rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have in recent weeks abducted up to 90 children in eastern Congo, UNICEF officials have said. The UN agency’s Regional administrator Julien Harneis said the children were kidnapped from two schools in Orientale province last week, in a series of attacks in which three civilians were killed, a local chief and two Italian missionaries were also abducted and the entire village of Kiliwa burned down. Meanwhile in North Kivu province, sustained clashes between the Congolese army and rebels loyal to regional guerrilla leader Laurent Nkunda have in the past four weeks forced at least 100,000 people to flee their homes.[PE]