The US Government has widened sanctions against the Lord’s Resistance Army rebel group, which terrorized some parts of the country some years ago before it fled to the Central Africa Republic.

It says the UN Security Council partly contributed to the broadened sanction.

Media reports state that the sanctions are in response to sharp increase in attacks by the group in the Central Africa Republic this year, compared to 2015.

The Lord’s Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, originated in Northern Uganda as a rebel movement.

After losing support, the group has led a terrifying regime for the last 24 years attacking innocent civilians, kidnapping children and forcing them to fight in the force.

The LRA’s rebels were driven out of the country by the Ugandan army.

They are now scattered across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic and South Sudan.

In South Sudan, they attacked and killed civilians in the Eastern and Western Equatoria region of the country. They also kidnapped and forcefully recruited children into the group.

In 2001, the state department put the LRA on its Terrorism Exclusion list, to block people associated with the group from entering the USA.

According to the American New York Times, under the widened sanctions, individuals or corporations who do business with the LRA could face penalties.

The widened sanctions also forbid Americans from having contacts with the LRA. It also freezes any assets the LRA may have on the United States territory.