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.

Kampala - The deputy leader of Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is preparing to give himself up, newspaper reports said Thursday.

Okot Odhiambo is in negotiations to give himself up to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in return for amnesty, government-owned newspaper The New Vision reported.

Kampala  - Uganda warned Saturday it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia as Islamist forces appeared to begin seizing territory left unguarded by departing Ethiopian forces.

"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 to help kick out hardline regime the Islamic Courts Union (ICU).

Kampala  - Uganda warned Saturday that it may withdraw its troops from peacekeeping duties in Somalia as Ethiopia pulls its forces out after a two-year occupation of the conflict-stricken nation.

"Uganda is going to consider withdrawing its troops from Somalia and it will do so as soon as possible after weighing the risks on the ground," Deputy Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Ethiopian forces invaded Somalia in late 2006 to help kick out the hardline Islamic Courts Union (ICU) regime.

After two years of battling a bloody insurgency and watching the government it backed fall apart, Ethiopia is now cutting its losses.

Freiburg, Germany  - German Catholic aid group Caritas said Tuesday that Ugandan rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) massacred at least 400 people over Christmas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a far higher figure than previously reported.

Caritas cited its own workers in Dungu-Durama, north-east DR Congo, as it put the death toll far higher than the 200 dead reported in some other quarters.

Ugandan army spokesman Paddy Ankunda backed up the report, saying the LRA had killed between 350 to 400 people in the past few days.

Kampala - The Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has massacred 45 people in a church in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda's government-backed New Vision newspaper reported Monday.

The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying the LRA used machetes, swords and clubs to kill the people - amongst them women and children - who had taken refuge in a Catholic church near the border with the Central African Republic.

The LRA is now accused of killing around 90 people in a series of attacks over the Christmas period.

Military officials said they had killed 13 of the LRA guerrillas involved in the church attack and were pursuing the rest of the group.