Children seek refuge from rebel kidnappers

THOUSANDS of frightened children are spending the night outdoors in a northern Ugandan town to avoid being grabbed

Most of the children walk seven miles from their rural homes to Gulu every evening at dusk, then wrap themselves in plastic bags and sleep in the open before returning home the next day, said Father Carlos Rodriguez, a Spanish missionary.

The number of children arriving in Gulu has risen in recent weeks because of an increase in attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, a shadowy rebel group that has abducted up to 20,000 children to use as child soldiers, sex slaves and labourers.