Ugandan LRA rebels 'on the move'

The LRA group has been abducting Sudanese civilians

Hundreds of Ugandan rebels have left an assembly point on the border with Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, a southern Sudanese official says.

Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters agreed to gather at certain points as peace talks continue in South Sudan.

A Sudanese deputy provincial governor told the BBC the fighters were heading towards the Central African Republic.

He said the activity may be linked to the split in LRA ranks following the death of deputy leader Vincent Otti.

There have been concerns that Otti's death - which was confirmed by the LRA in late January - could hamper the talks aimed at ending northern Uganda's 22-year conflict.

They have clear instructions to hunt them down Joseph Ngere Patuko Deputy governor

Ugandan authorities say that if the LRA does not sign a peace deal by the end of this month, it risks a return to war.

LRA leader Joseph Kony, who has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, has been in hiding in the remote north-east of DR Congo.

Abductions

Joseph Ngere Patuko, deputy governor of Western Equatoria province in Sudan, said the heavily armed LRA rebels were travelling in a large group with children and the elderly.

He said the group had abducted five women and one child in South Sudan on Tuesday.

"Today we mobilised our security forces to go and rescue these women. They have clear instructions to hunt them down and bring back these people," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

The LRA are notorious in northern Uganda for mutilating victims and kidnapping children to be fighters, porters and sex slaves.

In January, the Congolese government gave an ultimatum for the rebels to leave their base in the Garamba National Park.

Since then, Mr Patuko said LRA fighters have been assembling at Ri-kwangba in South Sudan, near the border with the DR Congo.

"For some time they have been calm until the difference arising with Kony and his deputy which led to Otti being killed," he said.

Mr Patuko said the group may be heading to the Central African Republic because with little administration in the area it would be easy for them to establish a base there.