The Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) has been hunting Joseph Kony, the rebel leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) for nearly 25 years. It’s estimated that the LRA has killed more than 70,000 civilians and kidnapped approximately 40,000 children across four countries. Kony and his commanders have forced abducted children to murder their own families and have cut off the lips, noses and ears of their victims. In 2005 the International Criminal Court indicted Kony and two of his senior LRA commanders with charges of crimes against humanity. The UNDP’s effort has recently received funding from the USA and assistance from U.S. Special Forces. A documentary video produced by the NGO Invisible Children recently gave the issue international attention. Today the search, known as Operation Lighting Thunder, focuses on the Central African Republic.