Why did the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army abduct those children?

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says 33 Ugandan children and adults abducted by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army are returning from the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Saturday. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports many of those returning were abducted as children between 1990 and 1999, and others were born in captivity.
    UNICEF says those returning are among an estimated 26-thousand people who were abducted as children by the rebel group, which is known for forcing children to become soldiers.
    Among those returning to Uganda Saturday are several adults who were children when they were abducted. UNICEF says 10 of the children are six years old or younger and were born in captivity in Sudan, which is where the Lord’s Resistance Army is based.
    UNICEF Spokesman Marc Vergara says it is almost impossible for the children to escape. He says the 33 who are returning to Uganda this weekend are among 212 people known to have escaped in southern Sudan over the last 18 months. But many others are believed to have died en route to the town of Juba, in southern Sudan, where the Sudanese government has set up a reception center.