Viral video targets Lord's Resistance Army

KAMPALA, Uganda -- If Joseph Kony lived in relative anonymity before this week, he's an Internet star now.

A video about the atrocities carried out by Kony's Lord's Resistance Army has gone viral, racking up millions of views, seemingly by the hour.

The marketing campaign is an effort by the San Diego-based advocacy group Invisible Children to raise awareness about Kony, a jungle militia leader wanted for atrocities by the International Criminal Court and is being hunted by 100 U.S. Special Forces advisers and local troops in central Africa.

The 30-minute video, released Monday, had more than 32 million views on YouTube by Thursday. The movie is part of an effort called KONY 2012 that targets Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.

"Kony is a monster. He deserves to be prosecuted and hanged," said Col. Felix Kulayigye, spokesman for Uganda's military. But Kulayigye said Kony's forces, once thousands strong, have been so degraded that he no longer considers Kony a threat to the region.

Experts estimate Kony's army now has only about 250 fighters. Still, the militia abducts children, forcing them to serve as soldiers or sex slaves, and even to kill their parents or each other to survive.

International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said it has been hard to raise public awareness about Kony since issuing his warrant in 2005.

"Kony is difficult; he is not killing people in Paris or in New York. Kony is killing people in Central African Republic, no one cares about him," he said.

"These young people from California mobilizing this effort is incredible, exactly what we need."