Executive Summary
Early 2013 shows cyclical uptick in attacks
The LRA committed 58 attacks between January and March 2013 (Quarter 1 of 2013, or Q1 2013), compared to 36 attacks between October and December 2012 (Q4 2012).
The increase in LRA attacks in early 2013 continues a trend seen in early 2012 and early 2011, in which the number of LRA attacks rose compared to the last three months of the previous year. Despite the rise in attacks, the LRA committed fewer abductions in early 2013 (69) than in late 2012 (111).
LRA attacks in CAR more violent
In Q1 2013, the LRA committed 72% of its attacks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo), compared to 28% in Central African Republic (CAR). However, the LRA committed 54% of its killings and 39% of its abductions in Q1 2013 in CAR.
The trend of the LRA killing and abducting more people per attack in CAR than they do in Congo is consistent with LRA attack patterns in 2012. In 2012, the LRA committed just 19% of its attacks in CAR, but committed 75% of its killings and 44% of its abductions there.
LRA continues to lose long-term abductees
In Q1 2013, 37 people who had been with the LRA for 6 months or more returned from the rebel group.
This number includes 28 women and children released by the LRA in Bas Uele district, Congo on March 21. 4 of these long-term returnees were Ugandans.
The high number of long-term returnees continues a trend begun in 2012, when at least 31 long-term Ugandan members of the LRA returned from the rebel group, many in the latter half of the year