Nzara is a town in

Western Equatoria State Western Equatoria is a States of South Sudan, state in South Sudan. It has an area of . The state capital is Yambio. The state was divided into counties, each headed by a County Commissioner. Western Equatoria seceded from Sudan as part of th ...

. It lies to the northwest of

Yambio Yambio is a city in South Sudan. Location The City is located in Yambio County, Western Equatoria State, in southwestern South Sudan, close to the Democratic Republic of the Congo–South Sudan border, border with the Democratic Republic of the ...

by road, and is 25 km (15m) from the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

with the

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Nzara was industrial center of the Azande Scheme also known as, Equatoria Project Scheme during the Anglo-Egyptian colonial period. The Government of South Sudan has since 2006 intended to revive the agro-industrial complex. Nzara was the site of the world's first recorded outbreak of the

Ebola virus disease Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after infe ...

. In five months starting in June 1976, 151 people in the region died of the disease.

Military base

Nzara served as the operational headquarters of the 4th Division of the

Uganda People's Defence Force The Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), previously known as the National Resistance Army, is the armed forces of Uganda. From 2007 to 2011, the International Institute for Strategic Studies estimated the UPDF had a total strength of 40,000–4 ...

(UPDF), the Ugandan contingent in Operation Rudia II. This was part of the regional campaign military against the

Lord's Resistance Army The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is a Christian extremist organization operating in Central Africa and East Africa. Its origins were in the War in Uganda (1986–1994), Ugandan insurgency (1986–1994) against Yoweri Museveni, during which Jo ...

(LRA). After the LRA defeat at Camp Swahili, the UPDF ceded overall control of the operation to the

Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Armed (May, 1941–1964) was an American Thoroughbred gelding race horse who was the American Horse of the Year in 1947 and Champion Older Male Horse in both 1946 and 1947. He was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame ...

(DRC) and moved the bulk of its forces to Nzara in March 2009. About 2000 UPDF troops remained in the DRC, north of Faradge, and Nzara-based attack helicopters supported them in engagements against increasingly concentrated LRA forces. When LRA Major General Caesar Acellam was captured in May 2012, he was flown from Djema in the

Central African Republic The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Chad to Central African Republic–Chad border, the north, Sudan to Central African Republic–Sudan border, the northeast, South Sudan to Central ...

to Nzara where he gave a televised interview. According to a 2012 published report, Nzara has housed one of the four Combined Operations Fusion Centers where intelligence and operations have been coordinated among the anti-LRA coalition.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Western Equatoria Nzara County