exile to Sudan. He had good connections to the Sudanese security services by this point, and even joined the Sudanese Armed Forces as a mercenary at one point. He recruited West Nile people for a Sudanese contingent that fought in the Iran–Iraq War on behalf of Iraq. Using these connections, Oris helped to organize a coalition of ex-Uganda Army groups in the refugee camps of Sudan. These rebels launched an insurgency in 1980, starting the Ugandan Bush War. Oris became a member of the Former Uganda National Army (FUNA) as well as the Uganda National Rescue Front (UNRF), both of which fought in the Bush War. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Joseph Kony, the leader of the rebel group known as the Lord's Resistance Army claimed to be possessed by the spirit of Juma Oris. It appears he was unaware that Oris was at the time still alive—something which he discovered when the two men eventually met in person. Oris founded his own rebel army, called the "West Nile Bank Front" (WNBF), in 1994. Though founded in Zaire with the blessing of Mobutu Sese Seko, the group was mostly supported by the government of Sudan, as Mobutu's regime was already in terminal decline by this point. The WNBF fought for the secession of the West Nile sub-region or the restoration of Idi Amin as President of Uganda. Oris managed to gain support in northern Uganda by exploiting ethnic tensions and the lack of development opportunities in the area, offering potential recruits money in exchange for joining the WNBF. While waging an insurgency against the Ugandan government, Oris allegedly committed human rights violations by planting landmines in ambush attempts. He also fought with his followers in the Second Sudanese Civil War on the side of the Sudanese government. In March 1997, the WNBF and its allies suffered a heavy defeat when South Sudanese rebels of the SPLA overran their bases in Zaire and Sudan, and then ambushed their retreating forces near Yei during Operation Thunderbolt. Oris was badly wounded during this battle, and the WNBF almost completely destroyed. Most WNBF fighters, including deputy commander Abdulatif Tiyua, were killed or captured. Oris and the remnants of his militia subsequently fled to Juba. From then on, the WNBF was "essentially spent" as fighting force. Having suffered a stroke in late 1999, Oris was bedridden from then on. His condition worsened in