Joseph Kony: US military planes to hunt LRA leader

The US has announced it is sending military aircraft and more special forces to look for Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony.

At least four CV-22 Ospreys and refuelling planes, as well as 150 Air Force special forces personnel will arrive in Uganda this week, they say.


Mr Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges.

The US first deployed some 100 special forces in 2011 to help African countries track him down.

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His Lord's Resistance Army rebels are notorious for abducting children and forcing the boys to become fighters and keeping the girls as sex slaves.

Boys are forced to kill their own parents, so they think they cannot return home.

The group first emerged in Uganda in the 1980s but its fighters now roam between Central African Republic, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The US forces would be based in Uganda but would be used in other countries where the LRA was present, said National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden.

She said African Union-led forces would remain in charge of the operation, with the US retaining an advisory role.

The US has offered up to $5m (£3.3m) for leads resulting in his arrest.