The Ugandan military Monday claimed success in an ongoing multinational offensive against Ugandan rebels inside the Democratic Republic of Congo, but said efforts were still underway to rescue 17,000 children abducted by the rebels, dpa reported.
Major Paddy Ankunda, Uganda's military spokesman, said Monday that forces from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and southern Sudan had successfully destroyed bases in the north-eastern DRC used by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), scattering the rebels.
However, many of fleeing rebels made off with children who had been abducted from the DRC and the Central African Republic. Ankunda said efforts are now focused on rescuing the children.
The attacks against the LRA began over the weekend in the remote north-eastern Congo region near Garamba National Park, where the rebels fled in late 2004. Ankunda said the mission went well, adding that three main camps were burnt down. He vowed to capture the escaping rebels and bring them to trial and to rescue the missing children.
Reports in recent months suggested that the LRA was once again gearing up for conflict, attacking villages around its base to recruit more soldiers.
Peace negotiations began in mid 2006 between the government and the LRA, but the rebels remain hesitant to sign the final peace treaty.
They say that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should first withdraw arrest warrants it issued in 2005 for five rebel leaders, including Joseph Kony, for crimes against humanity.
The court in The Hague wants the guerrilla commanders to be tried for rape, murder, abductions, torture and conscription of children into war. The rebels want Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to get the ICC to drop the warrants.
The rebellion has left thousands of civilians dead, mutilated and tens of thousands of children abducted by the LRA, who forced them to fight and commit atrocities.
Nearly two million civilians have been displaced from their homes by the conflict.