Ugandan ground forces closed in on Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) bases in northeastern Congo after bombarding the rebels' camps in a new push to end one of Africa's longest-running conflicts.
The offensive agreed by Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and southern Sudan began yesterday with an aerial attack against the camps in the remote Garamba National Park in eastern Congo.
Analysts say regional governments were spurred to act after losing patience with LRA leader Joseph Kony who has repeatedly failed to sign a final peace deal to end fighting that has killed thousands of people.
The self-proclaimed mystic Kony has repeatedly demanded the ICC arrest warrants be dropped before the guerrillas would leave their camps in Congo.
Kony's fighters have waged a two-decade war against Uganda's government, mutilating victims, displacing nearly two million and destabilising a vast swathe of central Africa.
After initial euphoria when a peace process started in mid-2006, LRA rebels have since run amok in the porous borders of Congo, Sudan and Central African Republic, opening a new front in a region racked by insecurity.
Ankunda would not comment on any Ugandan casaulties, nor how many troops were involved in the operation.
Operating from camps in Garamba, the LRA has attacked several Congolese villages and towns in recent months. The rebels have killed dozens of civilians and abducted several hundred, including many children.
Kony's fighters were harried by Uganda's army into southern Sudan, where they were used as a proxy force to fight Sudanese rebels battling Khartoum's central government.
The 17,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force in the Congo (MONUC) said no decision had been taken on what role UN peacekeepers would play in the new offensive against Kony.
Congo's information minister, Lambert Mende, said the offensive would continue until alll Kony's bases were destroyed.
Reuters