U.S. sending more forces, aircraft to seek Uganda warlord Kony -report

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The Obama administration is sending about 150 Special Forces troops along with military aircraft to Uganda to help in the search for warlord Joseph Kony, the Wash-ington Post reported yesterday.

The deployments began on Sunday night, the Post said, after the administration began to notify Congress.

In the first deployment of U.S. military aircraft to the region, at least four CV-22 Osprey aircraft will arrive in Uganda by midweek, together with refueling planes and Special Forces airmen to fly and maintain them, Amanda Dory, the Pentagon’s deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, told the Post.

The newspaper said U.S. personnel were authorized to “provide information, advice and assistance” to an African Union force tracking Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army.

“While combat-equipped, they are prohibited from engaging LRA forces unless in self-defense,” the Post said.