Kampala - The Ugandan army said Tuesday that it rescued nearly 120 civilians from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) when it stormed the rebel group's camps in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo over the weekend.

A total of 119 people, mostly women and children, were rescued in the joint operation carried out by Ugandan, Congolese and Sudanese forces against the LRA, Major Felix Kulayigye told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ninety of the captives, who were mostly Congolese, "had been confined in one place and tied up together like slaves."

The LRA has a long history of abducting civilians, mostly children, to fight, work as porters or serve as sex slaves.

The United Nations and charity groups estimate that about 30,000 children and youths have been abducted by the rebels.

Uganda, DR Congo and South Sudan launched an offensive against the LRA in December after the rebel group refused to sign a final peace treaty to end its decades-long rebellion, which displaced nearly 2 million people in northern Uganda.

The UN and other international charity groups estimate that the LRA has massacred around 600 civilians and abducted thousands more since the offensive began. (dpa)