One White House official, who agreed to speak with National
Report on the condition of anonymity had this to say: “The hunt for Kony that began several years
ago is now over. The recent expansion of
boots on the ground, as well an increase in drone capabilities, accelerated
the mission. President Obama gave
the final orders to assassinate the former LRM leader as issues with
extradition and trials would be hard to handle in the US. The President obviously considers this to be
a major accomplishment.”
The carefully rehearsed operation struck about 1:20a.m.
Friday local time. About 40 troops,
largely Navy SEALs, were involved.
According to Pentagon officials, photos of Kony’s dead body do exist,
but will not be release to the public.
Officials are expected to eventually release a corpse photo, as has been
done previously with famous villains such as Che Guevara and Saddam Hussein,
but that information will remain classified in the short term.
Four other adult males, believed to be part of Kony’s inner
circle, were also killed in the 45-minute raid as well as two females who the
Pentagon are considering “collateral damage”.
Kony had been accused of ordering the abduction of children
to become sex slaves and child solders.
The LRM amassed an estimated 66,000 children who roamed the region. In 2005, Kony was indicted for war crimes and
crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague,
Netherlands but has evaded capture since.
Kony’s army has spent years plundering villages, mutilating civilians
and kidnapping children across a large swath of central Africa. Kony gained
attention in March 2012 when a 30-minute documentary titled Kony 2012 was
released by film maker Jason Russell for the campaign group Invisible Children
Inc.
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