Kampala  - Uganda has begun to pull its troops out of the Democratic Republic of Congo after a mission targeting rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan military spokesman said Monday.

"We have left DR Congo after successfully completing our mission," Major Felix Kulayigye told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, adding that around 130 soldiers returned to Uganda on Sunday.

It will take eight days to fully complete the withdrawal, Kulayigye said.

Congolese, South Sudanese and Ugandan troops battled the LRA for three months. The LRA in 2008 refused to sign an agreement to officially end a conflict that left thousands dead and around two million displaced in northern Uganda.

The Kinshasa government refused to renew the mandate of the Ugandan army to continue fighting the LRA.

According to Kulayigye, Congolese and UN peace keeping forces will now fight the LRA.

Although the Ugandan government insists the operation was a success, with many rebels killed or captured and about 300 of their former captives rescued, the UN and independent observers say it was flawed.

They criticize government forces for failing to protect civilians. The LRA is believed to have killed about 1,000 civilians in retaliatory attacks since the offensive began in mid-December. (dpa)