The Uganda People's Defense Force ( UPDF) assured the rebels of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) of their safety as long as the peace talks between the government and the rebels are continuing in Juba, southern Sudan, a senior army commander said in Kampala on Thursday.

Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the UPDF's Chief of Defense Forces, told a news conference that the army is optimistic that the ongoing peace talks, unlike the previous ones, will yield good results to end the 20-year conflict that has left tens of thousands of people dead and over 1.4 million people homeless in northern Uganda.

"We have invested everything to ensure that the peace talks which are mediated by the government of southern Sudan do succeed and therefore we do not want to be the first ones to lead to their failure," Nyakairima said.

His comments came after media reported that the UPDF had resumed the war against the LRA fighters after an investigation was launched to verify the alleged violations of a truce agreement signed on August 26.

He clarified that the UPDF has not resumed crackdown on the rebel remnants, a move that could be regarded provocative and jeopardize the current peace process. But the commander confirmed the army has resumed normal operations of policing the war-ravaged region.

"We have now embarked on protecting the internally displaced persons returning back to their home villages, escorting humanitarian aid for those returning to their villages and carrying out the routine troop movement," Nyakairima explained.

"There can not be any war against the LRA, because the rebels have been greatly weakened and do not have the capacity to attack UPDF," he added, though he warned the rebels again that the UPDF is ready for any rebel incursions in case the talks collapse.

Five top commanders of the LRA have been indicted by the UN's International Criminal Court and wanted by the Interpol, who insisted on the drop of the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against them.

Source: Xinhua