Fugitive Ugandan warlord Kony said to be sickly

 

The elusive leader of the Lord's Resistance Army is sickly and in retreat from an international manhunt that includes U.S. forces, defectors from the group said.

A Ugandan military spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda on Monday said defectors report that Joseph Kony is possibly suffering from diabetes.

Ankunda said the account is probably true because Ugandan intelligence over the years "also indicates that Kony has diabetes."

Although many of the defectors said Kony is suffering from diabetes, some also suggested the fugitive warlord has AIDS, he said.

Kony is believed to be hiding in Kafia Kingi, a Sudanese-controlled enclave on the border of Central African Republic and South Sudan.

Watchdog groups have described Kafia Kingi as a safe haven for Kony because African troops hunting for him do not have access to the territory.

The Lord's Resistance Army, which originated in Uganda in the 1980s as a tribal uprising against the government, became notorious for kidnapping children as fighters and forcing girls to be sex slaves. Kony became infamous across the world in 2012 when the advocacy group Invisible Children released an online video that highlighted his alleged crimes.

The group is reportedly in decline, with many of its fighters surrendering or dying in firefights with African troops across Central Africa.