The Atiak massacre occurred on April 20, 1995, when a group of estimated 300

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Co ...

soldiers led by

Vincent Otti Vincent Otti (''c''. 1946 – 2 October 2007) was a Ugandan rebel who served as deputy-leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel guerrilla army operating mainly in northern Uganda and southern Sudan. He was one of the five persons fo ...

entered the northern

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

n town of

Atiak Atiak is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda on the Gulu-Nimule Road, the primary trade route between Uganda and South Sudan. Location Atiak is in Kilak County the Amuru District. It is approximately , by road, north of Gulu, the largest cit ...

Amuru District Amuru District is a Districts of Uganda, district in Northern Region, Uganda, Northern Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Amuru, Uganda, Amuru, where the district headquarters are located. Location Amuru Dist ...

. After routing the UPDF and rounding up hundreds of civilians, the LRA announced, "you Acholi have refused to support us. We shall now teach you a lesson." The LRA then handpicked young boys and young girls from the rest, in order to conscript into their ranks and to use as

sex slaves Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor, reducing a person to a s ...

, and marched them into the bush. Most of the remaining 200–300 captives were executed by gunfire. The massacre scuppered the diplomatic relations between the governments of Uganda and

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

, the LRA's primary sponsor. At the time the two had been in peace talks in

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. Within days of Atiak, Uganda accused Sudan of an aerial bombardment within Uganda and broke off diplomatic relations entirely.

References

{{Reflist 1995 in Uganda April 1995 events in Africa April 1995 crimes Massacres in 1995 Lord's Resistance Army Mass murder in 1995 Massacres in Uganda Amuru District