Uganda rebels 'kill mine experts'

Ugandan civilians live in constant fear of attacks

Ugandan LRA rebels have killed two mine-clearance experts in southern Sudan, the United Nations has said.

The men were leading a convoy heading towards the Ugandan border when they were stopped by armed men, taken out of their truck and killed, the UN said.

Passengers in two other vehicles escaped the ambush and took refuge in a Sudanese army camp.

Last week, the UN condemned recent Lord's Resistance Army attacks on aid workers in northern Uganda.

The attacks led the charity Oxfam to suspend its operations in the region.

New tactic?

In recent years the LRA has rarely targeted aid workers.

The ambushes followed arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against the five top LRA leaders.

This move may have changed the LRA's tactics, the BBC's Will Ross in Kampala says.

Some 1.5m people have been displaced by the 20-year conflict between the LRA and the Ugandan government.

The conflict has gained notoriety for the LRA's massacres and its tactic of kidnapping children for use as soldiers and sex slaves.