Senior commander of Joseph Kony was captured after jungle gun battle ~ Fun & Entertainment

Ugandan forces hunting for warlord Joseph Kony have hailed the arrest of one of his top commander's as an 'intelligence coup'.

Caesar Acellam was detained on Saturday, alongside two other rebel fighters, following a brief gun battle near the Congo-Central African Republicborder.

The Lord's Resistance Army militants had been trying to cross the River Mbomu.

Ugandan army intelligence chief Lt Col Abdul Rugumayo said Acellam was one of Kony's top military strategists and a reliable fighter.

Joseph Kony

But he revealed he is not one of the LRA commanders indicted along with Kony in 2005 by the International Criminal Court. Rugumayo said: 'He is in good condition. He was captured with two other rebels. They were in a group of 30 rebels. The others escaped.'

Details of precisely how Acellam was captured were not available, but some analysts said it was possible he had just walked into the hands of Ugandan army officials.

'He's been on the defection shelf for a long time,' said Angelo Izama, a political analyst with the Kampala-based security think tank Fanaka Kwawote.

Kony's Gurilla Army

'This is a big intelligence coup for the Ugandan army.' A Ugandan army official said losing Acellam was a big blow to Kony, whose forces have become increasingly degraded.

They are said to be suffering from a lack of food and having to constantly move to elude capture.

'He is big fish, very big fish,' the official said of Acellam, who has been with the LRA for over 20 years. 'He is one of the top division commanders.'

The official said Kony, who Ugandan officials suspect to be hiding somewhere in Sudan, has traditionally lived in bush camps significantly far from where his top commanders hide.

This, they said, is apparently as a security precaution. 'Kony does not want his commanders near him,' he said. 'He wants to be alone.'

Northen Uganda Where Joseph Kony is believed to be hiding

Kony recently became the focus of international attention after the U.S. advocacy group Invisible Children made an online video seeking to make him famous.

In 2005 the ICC indicted Kony, along with four other LRA commanders, for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Two of them have since died.

Last year U.S. President Barack Obama sent 100 troops to help regional governments eliminate the LRA.

But the manhunt for LRA leaders has proved tough, with the rebels moving in very small groups and avoiding technology.

Encounters between Ugandan troops and the rebels are very rare. Only about 200 LRA members remain the jungle, according to Ugandan officials.

Source Daily Mail