Editing Uganda People's Defence Force (section)

===African Union Regional Task Force===

In November 2011, the [[Peace and Security Council]] of the [[African Union]] (AU) authorized a Regional Co-operation Initiative (RCI) for eliminating the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA had been forced out of Uganda and was roaming remote areas of (what is now) [[South Sudan]], the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and the [[Central African Republic]] (CAR). The RCI was planned to consist of three elements: a Joint Co-ordination Mechanism chaired by the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security and made up of the Ministers of Defence of the four affected countries (Uganda, South Sudan, the DRC, and the CAR); a Regional Task Force Headquarters; and, the [[African Union-led Regional Task Force|Regional Task Force]] (RTF) of up to 5,000 troops from the four countries.<ref>African Union, 2015, The African Union-Led Regional Task Force for the elimination of the LRA, African Union Peace and Security, last updated 23 November 2015, accessed 2 January 2017, http://www.peaceau.org/en/page/100-au-led-rci-lra-1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130062623/http://www.peaceau.org/en/page/100-au-led-rci-lra-1 |date=30 January 2017 }}</ref>

United States special forces were already assisting Ugandan forces in their operations against the LRA in the DRC and the CAR.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/The-hunt-for-Kony-/957860-1257588-d6r7gyz/index.html | title=The hunt for Kony | date=18 October 2011 | access-date=17 January 2017 | last=Gisesa | first=Nyambega | newspaper=[[Daily Nation]] | location=Nairobi | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118114229/http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/The-hunt-for-Kony-/957860-1257588-d6r7gyz/index.html | archive-date=18 January 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://mobile.monitor.co.ug/News/2466686-1285462-format-xhtml-npg2ty/index.html | title=US commandos venture into Kony's killing fields | date=12 July 2011 | last=Butagira | first=Tabu | work=[[Daily Monitor|The Monitor]] | location=[[Kampala]] | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427044508/http://mobile.monitor.co.ug/News/2466686-1285462-format-xhtml-npg2ty/index.html | archive-date=27 April 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2014, these forces were still assisting the RTF.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2014/03/23/aa468ca6-b2d0-11e3-8020-b2d790b3c9e1_story.html | title=On the hunt for Joseph Kony | newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] | last=De Young | first=Karen | date=23 March 2014 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120145911/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/2014/03/23/aa468ca6-b2d0-11e3-8020-b2d790b3c9e1_story.html | archive-date=20 January 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>

The RTF started to take form in September 2012. By February 2013, the RTF had 3,350 soldiers and had finished deploying to the three sectors envisioned, with bases at Dungu, Obo, and Nzara (South Sudan).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://unoca.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?ctl=Details&tabid=3760&mid=6487&ItemID=539864 | title=FIGHT AGAINST THE LRA: UN welcomes handover of troops to the African Union Regional Task Force | publisher=United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa | date=September 2012 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140914141321/http://unoca.unmissions.org/Default.aspx?ctl=Details&tabid=3760&mid=6487&ItemID=539864 | archive-date=14 September 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1314407/drc-troop-deployment-boost-anti-lra-efforts | title=DRC troop deployment a boost to anti-LRA efforts | newspaper=[[New Vision]] | location=[[Kampala]] | last=Baguma | first=Raymond | date=17 February 2013 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170607075336/http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1314407/drc-troop-deployment-boost-anti-lra-efforts | archive-date=7 June 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The RTF headquarters is at Yambio in South Sudan. The first Force Commander was Ugandan Colonel [[Dick Olum]] and the Deputy Force Commander was Colonel Gabriel Ayok Akuok.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1307056/welcomes-au-force-hunt-kony | title=UN welcomes AU force to hunt down Kony | newspaper=[[New Vision]] | location=[[Kampala]] | last=Mukasa | first=Henry | date=19 September 2012 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180427120427/https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1307056/welcomes-au-force-hunt-kony | archive-date=27 April 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref>

RTF operations, however, were plagued with difficulties, including the fact that Ugandan forces were restricted from operating in the DRC.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Boko Haram and international law |date=2018 |editor=John-Mark Iyi |editor2=H. A. Strydom |isbn=978-3-319-74957-0 |location=Cham |page=79 |oclc=1043872475 |publisher=Springer}}</ref>

In October 2014, RTF Commander Brigadier [[Sam Kavuma]] was deployed to Somalia<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/UPDF-sends-2700-troops-to-Somalia--names-new-Commander/688334-2502526-a6ly0g/index.html | title=UPDF sends 2700 troops to Somalia, names new Commander | work=[[Daily Monitor|The Monitor]] | location=[[Kampala]] | date=28 October 2014 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018203219/http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/UPDF-sends-2700-troops-to-Somalia--names-new-Commander/688334-2502526-a6ly0g/index.html | archive-date=18 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and his place taken by Brigadier Lucky Kidega<ref name="Who">{{cite web |last=Kasasira |first=Risdel |date=27 November 2014 |title=Who is who? List of UPDF top brass and what they do |url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Who-is-who--List-of-UPDF-top-brass-and-what-they-do/691232-2536060-d2qq7g/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161128193039/http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Who-is-who--List-of-UPDF-top-brass-and-what-they-do/691232-2536060-d2qq7g/index.html |archive-date=28 November 2016 |access-date=15 January 2017 |newspaper=[[Daily Monitor]] |location=Kampala}}</ref> By March 2016, the Ugandan RTF Commander was Colonel [[Richard Otto (military officer)|Richard Otto]].<ref>Tumwesigye, Capt. Stephen, 2016, Dominic Ongwen's Accomplice Escapes Death, ''Tarehe Sita'' (The Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces Magazine) vol. 29, no. 3, March 2016, pp. 26–27.</ref>

During January 2016, UPDF 11 Battalion was based with the RTF in the CAR.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Soldier-sentenced-to-10-months-for-losing-gun/688334-3356366-hds5sm/index.html | title=Soldier sentenced to 10 months for losing gun | work=[[Daily Monitor|The Monitor]] | location=[[Kampala]] | last=Owich | first=James | date=25 August 2016 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019055136/http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Soldier-sentenced-to-10-months-for-losing-gun/688334-3356366-hds5sm/index.html | archive-date=19 October 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> In mid-2016, it was reported that Uganda would withdraw its contribution to the RTF by the end of the year.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2016/07/01/mission-not-accomplished | title=Mission (Not) Accomplished: Uganda gives up the hunt too soon for Kony and the LRA | publisher=[[The New Humanitarian|IRIN]] | last=Okiror | first=Samuel | date=1 July 2016 | access-date=17 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106010335/http://www.irinnews.org/analysis/2016/07/01/mission-not-accomplished | archive-date=6 January 2017 | url-status=live}}</ref>