Lord's Resistance Army blamed for Central Africa Republic mass kidnapping

At least 30 people were kidnapped at the weekend in the Central African Republic, several local sources told AFP on Wednesday, blaming fighters from the Lord's Resistance Army.

The security situation in the landlocked central African nation has improved since a bloody civil war in the 2010s.

But several rebel movements remain active in border regions with Sudan to the north and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the south.

"We don't yet have the exact number but it's estimated at about 30," said Frederic Kinza, a local official in the Bangassou area in the country's southeast.

Kinza said the assailants "arrived in three villages to kidnap people" but locals managed to flee towards Bangassou and alert the authorities.

Local lawmaker Serge Singha Bengba and others blamed the LRA for the kidnappings, which happened on Saturday.

The LRA was founded in Uganda at the end of the 1980s and was led for several decades by Joseph Kony, who has been accused of numerous abuses, including abductions, murder and the forced recruitment of children.

The group was gradually driven out of Uganda and extended its activities into remote areas of other central African countries, including the Central African Republic.

Although weakened, rebels still operate in some remote areas, attacking and abducting hard-to-protect rural populations.

"The LRA's area of operation is getting bigger and it's the people who suffer," said Singha Bengba.

"If, due to the LRA, (inhabitants) can no longer farm, fish or hunt for fear of being abducted, it's really worrying," he added, calling for security reinforcements in affected areas.

Other kidnappings under similar circumstances -- and blamed by the local authorities on the LRA -- have been reported in the country's media in recent months.